Family Sticks Together
by JRB95
Summary: When he was a kid Alex was left at the orphanage. The meeting with a horned girl introduced a new concept to him: family. (Cover image belongs to xDioxcide on Deviantart)
1. It All Began 7 Years Ago

Hey guys! This is an elfen lied fanfiction that was stuck in my mind for quite awhile. So I just hope you guys are going to like it. Oh and please review even if you think that its a piece of crap, I need to know how to get better. Well here I go with the story, enjoy!

CHAPTER 1: Arrival

I'm sure you have heard or read about many crazy or unbelievable stories in your life. Well, I'm pretty sure mine is weirder than any you already know of. Yep, my life was filled with loss, friendship, torture, blood, fighting, and super violent crazy girls that want to end human life... interesting huh?

Some people say that when your life is about to end, you see it passing by your eyes like a movie well I can tell you that its real, cause I thats exactly whats happening to me right now. Oh yeah I forgot to tell ya that I'm dying. Many humans would really be happy to get rid of someone like me, a so called "freak". Confused? Very well then I will tell you the story of my life and for that we need to go back 7 years in the past when I lived in a hellhole that was **supposed **to give a happy life to homeless children...

7 years ago

"This is where you'll be staying, be a good boy and all that crap and don't even think about coming near my house again, got it?" thats my uncle, he doesnt like me that much but I think you could figure that out by yourself.

I simply nodded in return, after living with my uncle for most of my life I understood that it was better not to reply to his rude remarks, or it would end with a beating on my part. Its not like I was weak, in fact I was involved in many fights when I was a kid, but not so strong to take down an adult.

"Oh and try not to use your stupid tricks on other children freaky monster!" what my uncle means by "tricks" is some mysterious ability I had for as long as I can remember. To be honest back then I didnt even know how to use it, it just happened when I lost my temper. You want to know more about that special power? Sorry but that will have to wait, I hate to spoil surprises.

So since my dear uncle never really liked me (I got the bruises to prove it) and I always ended up unintentionally murdering someone when I used my powers he decided that I would be better off in an orphanage, not that I would miss him.

Anyways, after my so called guardian had finished all the paperwork he left without even looking at me.

"So you are Alex right? Dont worry I'm sure you will have fun and make lots of friends here" She said with a lot of kindness... and yet all that kindness sounded almost... fake?

"Thank you Miss, could you please tell me where my room is?" I asked as politely as I could.

"Of course! Follow me"

So I just went to my room and emptied my luggage, it wasnt much, just a few posters. Apparently I wasnt going to share the room with anyone but that didnt bother me. A few minutes later I went to the dining room for lunch. The food was really horrible so I just grabbed a fruit juice and was about to leave when three kids stood in my way.

"Hey, so you are the new kid right?" asked the one in the middle.

"Thats me alright. The name is Alex, what can I do for you?" I said grinning.

"I'm Tomo, you see me and my friends here would like to make you understand how things work around here." I narrowed my eyes suspiciously after hearing that.

"First of all" Tomo continued "We like to ask other kids to... "share" their lunch with us. Usually we like it better when they do as we say, but we dont mind asking a second time a bit more... roughly. So I hope you uderstand what we expect you to do."

I hated bullies, not because they hurt people, but because they apparently thought they were superior to others because of it. I would never lower myself to their level and fight over a simple fruit juice.

"Whatever, if you like it that much you can have it." I said handing him the juice.

He took it with a smug grin "And here I thought you were going to put up a fight, instead you are just a little pussy like everyone else in this place."

"Yeah yeah, whatever can I go now? I really dont wanna listen to you boasting about your success in taking a fruit juice away from me" His facial feature started contorting in order to form the expression I loved seeing on bullies: anger. Anger formed because of their failure in intimidating another kid.

The annoying bully grabbed me by the collar of my shirt."Listen brat, you'd better pay some repect. It's not very smart to try and anger me and now I'm getting really angry!"

I sighed "Ok ok sorry, happy now? If you dont mind, moving here was kinda tiring so I would really love to get some sleep"

He recoiled in surprise at the fact that I still wasnt getting scared. Well he was probably a stuck up little bully, but he was smart enough to understand that it is impossible to beat up anyone if you cant intimidate him, so he let me go.

"You are lucky that I'm in a good mood today, I'll let you go this time, but the next time I fell like it I will definitely kick your sorry ass" Then he started laughing and left with his two personal lapdogs.

I made my way to my bedroom, not giving a thought to Tomo. I lied on my bed, a very uncomfortable one at that, and tried my best to sleep.

I never was and probably never will be one of those people that get to sleep in 30 seconds, as a matter of fact that night I waited for one full hour before closing my eyes. What I also am not is a morning person. So the next day I was so tired I could hardly tell where I was going, hoping my legs would bring me straight to the dining room.

I almost reached my destination when I bumped into someone. I was about to stand up and apologize, when I took in the stranger's appearance. She was a girl, but not just any girl. This one had pink hair... and pink eyes... and... horns. Yep, bumping in that unique girl would start a set of events that would change my life.

Good? Bad? Wanna know more? Or is it so horrible you dont care about further chapters? Please let me know!


	2. The Real Freak

**Hey guys this is the second chapter. I'm actually enjoying writing this story, hope its the same for you when ya read it. I would be very thankful if you kept reviewing this even if it sucks. Enough said.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my OC Alex.**

**CHAPTER 2: Freak**

I think that pretty much anyone would remain a bit stunned when looking at a girl with a very unnatural hair color and horns. Thats exactly what happened to me, so I just sat there staring at her until I noticed her looking away as if something bad was going to happen to her.

After recovering from the sudden shock I stood up in order to apologize for both, not looking where I was going and my staring. However as soon as I opened my mouth she jumped up and ran past me. Her eyes were slightly wet.

"Was she... crying? Did I do something wrong?" I asked myself stupidly. Of course I one something wrong! I stared at her as if she was some kind of monster!

After the weird encounter I ate breakfast still feeling a bit down because of the way I had treated that girl, if anyone was the monster in that orphanage it was me. I was the one who took innocent lives. She may have looked a bit different, but she wasnt a murderer like me... well, maybe not back then.

The classes were both easy and boring so I rarely payed attention. The only thing that actually caught my eye happened when sharing classes with the odd girl from before. Everyday someone would pull pranks on her or call her names such as "horns". I tried to ignore those events, thinking that they would stop one day.

The days passed by and the other kids just kept making fun of the poor girl, Tomo and his gang were the most passionate in this. The sad thing was that the teachers didnt do anything to stop this, and sometimes they also called her by various offensive nicknames.

I tried to keep my cool and not to react hastily during my first days here. It had been fairly easy, until Tomo called her "freak". I hated that word because thats what my uncle and the other people from the neighborhood used to call me. It was like comparing that innocent girl to me, who killed at least four individuals.

The reaction the other kids had only made me even more angry. They started laughing and pointing at her. I think the teacher was giggling that day. So I punched my table as hard as I could making a very loud "thump" that caused everyone to shut up and look at me. Happy to hear that everyone was now quiet I kept doing my classwork as if nothing had happened, ignoring the confused and startled glances the others gave me.

However a few days later, my "beloved" classmates started the mocking anew.

It was my second week at the orphanage, the classes for the day were over and I was about to go back to the only place I actually liked in that depressing structure: my room. Instead fate brought me to yet another classroom. I could hear the three well-known bullies... I mean the three well-known idiots laughing loudly. I peeked through the door just in time to see Tomo grabbing an umbrella to trip the same persecuted pink haired girl.

"You've got to be some kind of monster cause your definitely not a human! You're so weird even the teachers think you're freaky!" while talking Tomo and his friends started jumping in some weird way that made them look even more stupid. And that's when I snapped once again.

"Yo Tomo, why are you dancing like a monkey? You are a disgrace to those poor primates you know" I said grinning all the while.

The black haired kid scowled at me menacingly. "Oh shut up, cant you see we're busy? Surely you noticed the girl is a freak, so you shouldn't give a damn"

I looked at the girl for a moment before answering "You're right Tomo, I did notice the freak..." the three bullies were now smiling triumphantly at her who, on the other hand, was once more on the verge of tears.

"... he is standing right in front of me" I finished. That caused everyone's eyes to fall on me yet again. This time it was probably Tomo who snapped since he started charging towards me, his two goons following right behind him.

I dodged The dark haired boy's punch and punched him myself in the stomach, then I elbowed the second boy in the face, and kicked the third in the ribs. All the while the mysterious girl had kept a surprised expression on her face. As I told you before I was involved in numerous fights when I was a kid, so I could defend myself pretty nicely. Then again it was a three on one, so it was not long before they overcame me and I started getting my ass kicked.

"Stop it! Let him go!" spoke up the silent girl for the first time. Hah! The three were, without a doubt, idiots, but if they first bullied a girl THEN listened to her, they would be simply retarded. I appreciated the fact that she tried though.

That's when another girl walked inside the room, a look of shock depicted on her face.

"Teacher! Tomo is picking on kids again!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Shit, lets get out of here!" The gang didnt loose any time and ran for it.

The newcomer then walked closer to us. "Are you alright?"

"Kind of, but … ugh... not really" I answered. Damn, those guys knew how to kick!

"Those kids are really mean"

"Everyone in this place is miserable and the only thing that can make her feel better is to make the others even more miserable" the horned girl replied staring at her bang, which had milk poured all over it. Whoa, that was cold. She then looked straight at me.

"I'm sorry... it's my fault" the guilt in her tone was easy to hear.

"Don't worry about it. Besides I've been through worse" I smiled reassuringly.

"Don't you need to go to the nurse?" interjected the other girl

"Trust me, I'm fine"

She simply nodded, before turning to my fellow victim "Then lets get your bag cleaned up"

So we made our way to one of the rest rooms.

"By the way, I'm Alex" I said along the way.

"My name is Kaede"

Kaede... that name would hunt me for a REALLY long time.

**That's it for chapter 2. Thanks to anyone who kept reading till here and I hope you like the story so far. Dont forget to review!**

**Rocci:Thanks for the support man, I appreciate it.**


	3. The Bond

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, been a bit lazy lately. However, I promise I'm gonna do my best to finish this story. So enjoy chapter 3!**

**CHAPTER 3 : The Bond**

When we arrived at the girls bathroom I waited outside for them to finish clean up the mess made by Tomo. In the meantime I was quickly reviewing what happened to me since I got in the orphanage. I made the acquaintance of three of the most revolting kids I ever met in my life, then I met a girl with horns and pink hair who I helped to fend off the aforementioned bullies, even though I barely knew her.

I guess you may already think that my life is very unique. HA! If you consider this weird, wait and see what happened to me as the years went by! But that will have to wait.

As I was saying, the girls had just finished cleaning the bag and were now exiting the bathroom. The girl who had come to our rescue then turned to us.

"Sorry for what happened today. I know those kids can be terrible at times, but I can guarantee you that not everyone here behaves like them. If either one of you has a problem you can trust me" She then gave us a warm smile, one that was hard not to believe in.

"Sure and thanks again for your help back there" I said still remembering the situation I found myself in when facing Tomo and his friends alone.

"You welcome. Well, I'd better go now see you around!" With that said she turned around one of the many corridors, disappearing from our sight.

I then turned to Kaede "I should go too. I may not need to go to the nurse, but some rest could do me good."

"Wait!" She said, stopping me in my tracks.

"Something bothering you?" I asked curiously.

She remained silent for a moment before answering. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Help me."

"You were in trouble and I couldnt just leave you at their mercy. Is something wrong with that?"

"No... it's just... here people usually treat me like trash because... because of these" she then pointed at her horns.

"Don't you think that I'm a freak?"

This time it was my turn to be silent. I honestly didnt expect her to ask such a question. Sheesh, talk about low self-esteem.

"Trust me, I know better than anyone else that its not your appearance that makes you human. Its the way you act that makes you who you are. You may be a little different, but in the end we are all the same on this earth. No one deserves to be treated as trash." I said that as confidently as I could. I could see that that last line left her a bit shocked.

"I hope that answers your question." I continued.

"Yes. Th-Thank you" Kaede said smiling.

I smiled back and walked away, making my way to my room. I collapsed as soon as I laid on my bed. Finally some well-deserved rest.

The next day started out as any other. I woke up, got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.

I got my usual juice and was about to sit alone at my usual table when I spotted Kaede in the distance being again harassed by the same three kids that were so kind to give me the gift of at least a dozen bruises.

So do you think I was scared of getting a few more? Nah.

I walked towards the table where they were arguing and made my presence known in the most polite way that I could.

"Well, if it isnt my favorite trio of idiots!" Ok maybe I didnt put that much of an effort into it.

The head-idiot turned around grinning evilly at me. Honestly, that only made him look even more stupid.

"Look who just got here! Did you come here to take yet another beating" he said proudly feeling as if I had my back against the wall while surrounded by three hungry wolves. Three very ugly hungry wolves.

"You would start a fight in a cafeteria under the eyes of all these teachers and students? Wow Tomo I really did overestimate your brain capacity" It was my turn to take pride in my words as he glared at me and I could here Kaede giggle.

"Laugh while you can! But one day there wont be some random girl to save you and then you will receive more than a few bruises!"

"Really? Good to know, be sure to tell me when I should start caring"

After that last line they stormed off fuming angrily and muttering some curses obviously directed to me.

"Jeez those people are really a drag" I said sitting down at Kaede's table, only to notice that she was looking at me with a confused stare.

"Err... What? Did I do something wrong?"

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting with you" I replied in a isn't-it-obvious tone

"Why?" She seemed even more confused.

"Hey if you dont want me to I can just..."

"No!" She was suddenly alarmed "Its just no one ever sat with me"

"What? Oh c'mon now you're making your life sound like a living hell!"

After she remained silent I realized that I had just stated the truth

"Oh... sorry" I continued

"Dont be. Its not your fault"

What followed was the one thing I hate more than a beating: awkward silence. So I tried to start a conversation asking various simple questions like her favorite color, her hobbies and some other stuff. At first she was kinda shy, but with time she started getting more confident, at some point she was even asking questions herself.

"So Alex, where did you live before you came here?" She asked me

"My parents died when I was little, my uncle took me in even if he wasnt too happy at the idea. Then strange things started to happen when I was around so I guess he got scared and abandoned me."

"What kind of strange things?"

"To tell you the truth I'm not really sure myself"

She looked down with sad eyes. A girl getting sad because of my past? Not gonna let that happen!

I stretched a bit before getting up "Hey how about we take a walk? I really cant stay seated for another minute"

I met her sad crimson eyes one more time before she nodded happily. We walked around the orphanage for a while as we kept chatting. Occasionally someone would look at us with looks of confusion, shock and sometimes disgust. However it just took me to glare at them to make them stop whether they were students or teachers.

We finally reached the garden which was almost empty. If I learned anything from that wretched place is that the kids are extremely lazy. Instead of going to play in the garden they would rather sit down in the cafeteria until their ass is feeling numb.

"Tag you're it" I said tapping her shoulder.

She looked at me in utter confusion yet again.

"Well c'mon! Please tell me you know how to play tag!" Mocking can be a very good way to persuade someone at times. In fact she looked at me with a determined stare and started to run after me.

We spent the morning like that, playing together. It was good for the both of us, I really dont remember when was the last time someone played with me and she never had someone to play with.

After one full hour of running we sat at the base of a tree enjoying the break.

"Well that was fun" she said smiling.

"Yeah we should do it more often!"

The bell rang signaling that classes were to begin. Kaede once again grew sad and I just had to comfort her. For some reason I felt like her older brother.

"Hey dont worry I'll see you after classes and tomorrow we'll play again how's that?"

She looked at me "You promise?"

"Of course" I replied grinning.

So we were on our way to continue our joyous voyage in the land of math and science. Yeah right.

After that day I felt like a bond was born between me and that girl. It was a bond that would keep us united for over eight years and that would help me to survive in the most difficult situations.

**Thats Chapter 3 and I'm already working on Chapter 4 so I promise it wont take as long as this one. It should be out in about 2 or 3 days. Hope you guys are enjoying this so far!**


	4. AlexNiiSan

**Wazzup! Told ya it wouldnt take long! Here is the fourth chapter of my story. For those who think that my story is boring at the moment, I advise you to keep reading. I know that there hasn't been anything particularly exciting lately, but take these as introductory chapters. There will be a lot of action you just have to be a bit more patient.**

**CHAPTER 4: Alex-Nii-San**

The days passed by and Kaede and I kept playing together. I also did my best to keep Tomo away from her, even if I had to suffer through a couple of punches. However I was also able to payback the trio on many occasions.

Overall things were going well at the orphanage. Kaede now had a much more cheerful expression decorating her face. Sure, people still looked at her with distasteful looks and she did turn sad when that happened, but I could tell that she wasnt as depressed as when I first saw her.

One day we were sitting at our usual table resting after a very long game of tag. What was weird however, was that she was not talking as much as she usually did. She seemed almost distracted by something.

"Kaede?" I called her pulling her away from her train of thoughts.

"Huh? I'm sorry, did you say something?" Yep definitely distracted.

"You seem kinda... thoughtful. Is there something troubling you?"

"Oh no no don't worry. I'm fine." After that her face turned thoughtful again.

That situation didn't make me feel comfortable at all. Kaede seemed troubled and she didn't want to tell me what was the matter. My mind started panicking. Did I do something wrong? Did I forget about something very important? Did Tomo bully her when I wasnt looking? Did I say something that offended her?

"Alex?" I jumped a bit when I heard my name. Wow now I was the one stuck in a train of thoughts. Oh the irony.

"I would like to show you something" She continued.

"Huh? What exactly?" I asked confusedly.

"Follow me" She got up and started walking faster than usual. I followed her example and tried my best to keep up with her.

We reached a part of the orphanage that I didnt even know it existed. After walking a bit more, Kaede opened a door which took us to the outside. I took a good look at where we were. Apparently the building had a back door which opens the way to a huge and peaceful forest. I didnt have much time to take in the details however, since Kaede continued to walk further into the green maze.

After five minutes of walking I finally asked Kaede what I wanted to ask since the beginning.

"Um... We are going where exactly?"

"We are almost there" Came her immediate response.

I really wanted to ask where "there" was, but I decided against it. After a couple of more minutes of walking we reached the top of a hill where quite a few number of Shinto statues resided. There my pink-haired friend finally decided to take a stop.

"Alright, quite a nice place you got here. Was it this that you wanted to show me?"

She did not reply instead she crouched down and stayed silent, as if waiting for something to happen.

And then I saw it. From behind a tree, a small puppy came out of hiding and ran happily towards Kaede. I then saw her taking some bread from her pocket and offering it to the cute thing.

I smiled "So that's why you never finished your lunch"

She nodded "This poor thing was abandoned by his owners. One day I was wondering here by myself and he found me. He was really starving so after that I started sharing my lunch with him."

The puppy finished the bread at incredible speed, which proved to me how malnourished he must have been. Only then he seemed to notice me. He started smelling my legs as if he was studying me with extreme accuracy. After a few seconds he started yelping happily, probably meaning that he got to know that I posed no threat. So I started petting him. I always had a soft spot for dogs.

"So today you were deciding whether to tell me or not" I said understandingly.

"Sorry about that. Its not that I don't trust you, its just that I'm afraid that those boys will get to know. So I'm kind of afraid to spread word about him." She seemed almost ashamed.

"Hey don't worry about it. I would probably do the same thing."

Her face finally seemed relieved. "Thanks Alex"

We spent some more time with the poor doggie before leaving. On the way, Kaede still seemed troubled by something.

"What's the matter?" I asked

"Oh nothing I was just..." before she could finish I interrupted her.

"Kaede, you know you can trust me" I said truthfully.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks and she seemed to find something very interesting about her shoes.

"Alex" She began "You act like a true friend to me. Since you started to talk to me I feel happier and..."

"Yeah, go on" I encouraged her.

"I was wondering if you could... if you could..." She continued shyly "If you could be my nii-san. Alex can you be my brother?"

That left me simply appalled. She wanted to be my sister? I mean, I already saw her kind of like my little sister, but asking me like that was kinda different. She wanted me to be her family, something she never had. Well, I never had a family either and the prospective of having a sister made me very happy. But did I really want a little sister? People kept dying around me, what if something happened to her? What would I do?

I stood there in silence trying to come to a decision. I was struggling with myself. I side of me desperately wanted to be part of a family again, on the other hand I was afraid that this could only bring the both of us to suffer greatly.

I think the silence seemed to last like hours for the both of us. I finally came to a decision. I looked at her firmly in the eyes.

"Why are you asking such stupid questions?" I said in an irritated voice.

Her face fell, she was probably on the verge of tears.

"You should know..." I continued "...that the answer would be yes, there is no need to ask"

Kaede looked at me in total surprise. I smiled warmly back at her. She started crying and then she hugged me tightly. At first I was taken aback by her sudden embrace, but then I melted down and hugged her back"

"Thanks Alex" She muttered, she still refused to stop crying though

"No problem... sis" I think that last word actually made her smile.

Yep, I finally had a family. I knew that we may go through a lot of hardships, but that's what a family is for isn't it? To help you go through a hard time and move on. Was I ready to look out for my new sister? You bet I was! What was I feeling? Well I think that for the first time in many years... I was happy.

I gently pulled her away "Well I think we should head back now, its getting cold"

She smiled "Yeah"

We both got back to the orphanage. I could feel that Kaede was really happy, and that made me happy too.

Before we parted ways to go to sleep however, she stopped me.

"Do you think I should tell that girl about the puppy too?"

I thought about it for a second "Well, she does seem friendly to me. Besides the more friends you can get, the better"

"Yeah you're right. Good night brother"

"Good night sis"

When I laid down on my bed I slept with a serene heart, still very happy at the idea of having a sister to protect.

Unfortunately, I did not know that that last piece of advice I gave Kaede was a terrible mistake. It would become the first step to transform my life and my little sister's into a living nightmare.

**I think you guys know whats coming next. I'm actually very satisfied with this chapter and I hope you are too. Thanks again to everyone who was so kind to review!**


	5. Slit Pupils

**Its me again! This time I present to you Chapter 5! Once again I thank everyone who reviewed my story and even those who are simply following it. **

**Since I haven't mentioned it as much as I should I feel forced to remind you that I do not own Elfen Lied and its characters, as they rightfully belong to Lynn Okamoto. I do, however, own the protagonist of this tale: Alex.**

**Now that I said that lets get on with it!**

**CHAPTER 5: Slit Pupils**

And so the tragic day came. The day before, my new sister had shown her puppy to that other girl. She seemed to find the dog extremely cute and that made me feel reassured. It was a big mistake on my part.

I was making my way to a room where I agreed to meet Kaede. If she seemed relieved before, you guys should have seen her then. After our talk she almost stopped looking depressed when I was around. Also, the fact that two more people were sharing their lunch with the doggie put her worries about his health at rest.

Still oblivious to the tragedy that would soon strike, I kept walking. My sole concern was reaching my little sister as soon as I could. After all this time in the orphanage, she was still the only one that I talked to. Many people had tried to approach me, but as soon as they realized that I spent most of my time with the so called "freak", they started avoiding me too. Not that I minded of course, Kaede was more than enough to keep me company.

And that's when I spotted them. Tomo was grinning evilly at his friends and seemed to be discussing yet another of his cruel schemes with his two friends. Curiously enough though, he also seemed to be hiding something in his arms.

What did I do? Well, I was in my usual harass-the-bully mood, so I walked towards them.

"Yo Tomo! From the looks of your face I can deduce that either you figured out that two plus two is four, or you are ready to make another girl cry. I would bet on the first one anyways."

He looked at me and, oddly enough, he wasn't glaring but grinning instead. I got immediately alarmed. That could only mean bad news.

"Oh don't worry Alex, we are going to make a girl cry soon enough" he said grinning all the while.

He then faced me, exposing what he was previously hiding.

And there he was. Yelping for help. Kaede's puppy now lied in the clutches of those three.

I think my face went really pale, 'cause Tomo was grinning even more widely.

How did they get to know? I'm sure I didn't let any word of this come out from my mouth. Did they find him by themselves? Unlikely, no one knew about the back door. Kaede would obviously never tell them even if subjected to torture. That only left...

And then it hit me. How could I be so stupid? She told them. The girl that helped us. But how could she betray us? She didn't look bad to me. Was she really capable of such a cruel thing? Was what Kaede said true? Was the only thing that satisfied the kids in the orphanage really making other kids more unhappy?

The gang started laughing when they saw that my facial expressions were filled with realization. I had finally understood what kind of place that was. No one could be trusted in that god damned place. Unfortunately, I had been too blind to realize that. But was I going to let Tomo get away with this? Whatever atrocities he was planning to make that dog go through, he would never accomplish his sick-minded plans while I was around.

My expression changed from surprised to determined. "Put him down Tomo"

"Or what?" he said challengingly.

"You are in for a world of hurt" Now I was simply mad and I think I told you before, that things get ugly when that happens.

"Hmph! Oh I'm really shaking! Guys, why don't you take care of our friend" He was sending his friends to take out me? Should I have been honored because he thought that two people were needed to take me out, or disgusted by his incredible cowardice?

One of them cracked his knuckles "With pleasure, I've been waiting to give this guy a decent beating for a long time"

I stood there, waiting for them to foolishly charge at me. I was not bothering myself to come up with a plan to take them out as I only cared about hurting them, it didn't matter in what way. I wanted to see them kneel down and beg for mercy, I wanted to feel their blood dripping on my hands, I wanted to hear their bones break under my hold. Had I been a little more angry, my goal would have been killing them.

They started running towards me.

The first one came down immediately. I hit him with a fast and hard punch in the stomach that knocked the wind out of him. He probably didn't even see me moving.

The second one tried to punch me in the face, but I was fast enough to grab his fist and stop the attack. Then I started twisting his wrist backwards hard. It was actually enjoyable to listen to him screaming in pain. A little more and the joint would break. However, in the corner of my eye I saw that the other goon had gotten himself back up and that he was attempting his luck with an attack from the back. What a fool. Without letting go his friend's hand I turned my body a little to deliver a powerful kick right in his face. A loud thump was heard and he went down again. He was not going to wake up any time soon. My attention was back to the one I was torturing. His eyes were watery he looked at me as if pleading me to let go. And so I did... only to grab his neck next and lift him up high, above my head.

When I looked up at him and we made eye contact, his face went pale. He probably noticed that my pupils were now slitted. Yes, I was using my special ability and it wasn't even at full power. Don't worry, you guys will get to see what I can really do later on. For now this ability presented itself only as a boost in aggressiveness and in strength.

I realized that it was the same guy that wanted to give me a "proper beating". Now, he was crying.

"This is your idea of a proper beating?" my voice felt menacing.

He didn't answer, he just kept crying.

"Pathetic. You would do well to stay out of my way from now on." And with that said I slammed him to the ground, making him unconscious.

My eyes were once again locked on Tomo, who was now really shaking in fear. I guess I must have looked really intimidating with those eyes. I started to slowly walk towards him, as he started backing away.

"What's wrong Tomo? And here I thought you were going to put up a fight, instead you are just a little pussy" hearing the words he spoke when we first met, further unnerved him and after adding a nice sadistic smile to the mix, he was really shitting his pants.

I almost reached him, just a few more steps and I would have finally given that guy what he deserved for torturing my sister. But I never did. Something hard hit me on the back of my head. I slumped to the ground in pain but was able to stay conscious. After tilting my head a bit to the side I identified the culprit. It was the guy I kicked in the face. I probably didn't hit him as hard as I thought. He was holding a big rock in his hand. Yet another coward. Him and Tomo looked at me warily for a few seconds before smiling mockingly.

My gaze rested on the poor creature that the coward had been holding for this whole time. He had a sad look, as if he was begging me to fight back. My eyes returned hateful and I shot a glare at the boy who hit me. The goon got scared and hit my head once more with that darned rock of his.

And I finally fell unconscious. My last thoughts being Kaede's sad face. Her pet was in trouble and I couldn't stop them. It was my fault. I failed my sister. How could I?

Even when unconscious my mind kept tormenting me with images of Kaede crying and the puppy dead at her feet. It was obviously my fault. First I gave her the wrong advise and then failed to make up for it. What kind of brother was I?

My consciousness finally decided to get back after half an hour or so. As soon as I remembered what happened my legs found strength once again and brought me to the room where I was supposed to meet Kaede.

Unfortunately for me a lot of people were crowded over there and made it difficult to see what happened. My fear turned into terror when I noticed some police officers among the crowd. I made my way through, only to be greeted by one very gory view.

Blood was all over the place, it even reached the ceiling. On the floor lied four bodies that I easily recognized despite their mangled state. It was the three bullies from before and the girl that betrayed us. Who did this? Not even when I killed the victims were in such a state.

Despite the state their bodies were now in, I still didn't feel any pity for the dead kids. However, I had to fight back a strong urge to vomit.

My eyes raced around the room in order to see if Kaede was there, but she wasn't.

"What a mess. Four kids murdered and one missing..." I heard a policeman say to his colleague.

"Did you hear that that horned freak disappeared?" That was one of the kids, who was discussing with his friends.

Kaede missing? Did she run away? Where could she have ran off to?

Well where else if not in the place we visited the other day?

And before anyone could notice I was there I started running again, straight towards the hill where the dog had been hiding. Various pointy branches cut through my flesh as I ran, but I didn't feel it. What mattered then was making sure my sister was alright.

So you can imagine how relieved I was when she came into my view. Before I could call her however, something else caught my eye and made me hide behind a nearby tree. I took another good look. She was talking to someone. It was a boy.

Dark hair, blue eyes, holding a music box. Yep, he was also going to play an important role in my life.

**There you have it. I think I gave you guys what you wanted: Alex getting mad and teaching something to those guys. I can't shake off this feeling that I used a lot of repetition. Be sure to tell me if you think the same!**


	6. Big Changes

**Hey wazzup! I know, I've been away for a while. You see, my uncle came to visit during the holidays and I hadn't seen him in 5 years! So I wanted to spend sometime with him. Now that he left ( and I actually cried ) things are ready to start over!**

**CHAPTER 6: Big Changes**

Kaede was seemingly talking to a boy. What surprised me the most was the fact that she was actually glaring! Since when was she aggressive?

The boy was holding a music box in his hand. It played a nice music, but it was a bit depressing. I decided that I should stay hidden for the moment and observe how things would develop from there.

"You like it?" asked the boy innocently.

"What?" replied my pink-haired sister.

"Well, why else would you be staring?"

"I... I just thought it was a pretty song... that's all..."

Wait a minute, is she blushing? Kaede is actually blushing? Does she have a crush on this guy? All this questions raced through my head. First she glares then she blushes? What was going on?

The boy's next sentence snapped me back to reality.

"Are those growing out of your head? They look like horns"

Oh shit. Seriously dude, of all possible questions you had to pick that one? My muscles tensed ready to spring into action. If Kaede really did slaughter those kids then I had to be ready to save that kid's ass.

"You think they're disgusting, don't you?" Her voice was full of hatred. Was this really the same girl I knew?

"What?" repeated the black-haired kid utterly confused

Then something weird happened. Something cold came from Kaede's direction and was marching towards the boy's legs. Well I didn't really see anything, but I felt it. It's kinda hard to explain, I just knew something was off. How you ask? I just knew! Anyways, this alarmed me and I was about to make my presence known when the other lad intervened.

"No way, that's totally awesome!" He shouted gripping her shoulders.

She was, to say the least, stunned. That negative feeling I had disappeared. Whatever Kaede was planning to do, she stopped it. That's not the only thing I noticed. If she was blushing before, you should have seen her now! She was as red as a tomato!

Aha! I knew it! My sister's got a crush! Slowly a smirk formed on my face. Was I gonna let her live this down? Of course not!

But then Kaede resumed her glaring and freed herself from the boy's hold.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble this horns have caused me!" She said coldly.

"What?" He was even more confused now.

The girl started walking away from him when he spoke up again.

"Hey do you wanna be friends?"

At that I remembered how the puppy died in the first place. I placed my trust in someone I barely knew and that was the tragic result. However, this guy was different I could feel it and I am sure Kaede could too.

"You must be joking! I hate all of you!" With that she started walking away.

I'm not sure if it was even possible to confuse the kid even further, but that line seemed to do the trick.

Poor Kaede. Losing her first best friend must have traumatized deeply. She had a good reason not to trust anyone. Probably she wouldn't trust even me. These thoughts distracted me from what the kid was saying. I think he shouted out loud his name, but I didn't catch that. Nor did I care, since my sister was getting away and I had to follow her.

When I caught up with her, she seemed to be deeply in thought about what just happened. So it was up to me to break the silence.

"Seems like a really nice guy to me" these words made her snap her head towards me.

"A-Alex?" Her usual surprised and confused expression adorned her face.

"Hi there sis"

We both remained silent for a while, before she recovered from the sudden shock.

"How long have you been listening?" She asked

"I think I got all of it"

"Then you know I can't trust him, it would be making the same mistake again. The first time it cost me dearly already"

I lowered my head at that. Now she was taking the blame.

"First of all" I started "Understand that the fault for what happen is mine and mine alone. The last thing I want is to see you devastated like that. Second, this guy is different. I trusted the girl out of necessity, thinking it would be better to have some more allies. This kid however... there is something different about him. Unlike most people I met before I feel like I can trust him even though we just met. I'm sure you feel the same."

She didn't reply to that, instead she decided to look away and appeared to be in deep thought again.

"Of course" I continued "The decision is yours and yours alone... though if he is ever going to ask you out, I would advise you to say yes" That made the pink-haired girl change expression all of a sudden.

"H-Hey, i-it's not like I have a crush on him!" she shouted, her cheeks starting to get red.

"I didn't say you like him. Wait you do?" I asked with fake surprise. A bit of humor was the perfect thing to cheer her up and it was working.

Her cheeks were now red-hot. "N-no! W-what I meant is... I mean... I wanted to... H-he doesn't..."

I started grinning at myself. Seeing her trying to come up with an excuse was just priceless. At some point, she decided to give me a dirty look and to ignore me. Nobody moved for a couple of seconds before we both started laughing.

"Feeling better?" I finally asked

"Yeah thanks brother" Her face finally donned that beautiful smile of hers.

"No problem! However, you do realize I have some questions for you right?

"Yeah, I know"

With that we both became serious again.

"First off, was it you who killed those three?" It was pretty obvious that she did kill them, but I still wanted confirmation.

"Yes. About that, I really couldn't control myself. I..."

"Don't bother coming up with excuses. I've never liked those guys and I still fail to feel any pity for them." I said cutting her off.

"Next question, how did you kill them?"

She then proceeded with explaining about how she was now able to control some kind of invisible arms that were able to rip a human body open with minimal fatigue. Well, that explained what I felt before. On the other hand, something was still bothering me. People are not supposed to notice these "arms" and yet, in a way, I sensed them, kinda.

"It sounds stupid right?" Kaede's sudden question brought me back to reality.

"Actually, it's pretty easy to believe" was my answer "I've never seen such a gruesome spectacle. It's hard to find any other logical explanation"

I thought about telling her of my apparently incredibly peculiar ability of sensing those so called "invisible arms" of hers, but decided against it. I was not going to make any of that public until I myself understood what was going on with me. Did that come with my ability?

I noticed only then that my latest remark had lowered Kaede's moral to a whole new level. It was time to change the subject.

"I doubt you'll be going back to the orphanage" I stated "So it would be pointless for me to go back"

"What?" she was now screaming "No! You must go back! There they have food and shelter! You can't suffer because of me!"

Her sudden outburst surprised me. I had been worrying about her for so long that the fact that she could be preoccupied for me didn't even cross my mind. Well, I was her brother so I guess it was only natural.

"Don't worry about me. My uncle used to throw me out of the house on many occasions, so I'm used to living on the streets, can't say the same thing about you though. So how are you going to survive?"

Once again she looked away. Sadly I did have a hunch about what she meant. Not having anywhere to go and not being strong enough to live on the streets, the only thing she could rely on was her new power and that power was good for one thing: killing. It was still very hard to believe that my little defenseless sister will probably have to go on a killing spree in order to have a place to spend the night. Things had slipped out of hand in less than a day.

"You must know" I began "That I don't approve of what you wanna do. Nevertheless, if it means granting you a way to survive... then I don't mind"

Her eyes widened,fully showing the brilliance of their red color.

"What?" I asked "You do remember that you're my little sister right? You are worth much more than a thousand lives to me"

At that she smiled happily and then we both hugged each other tightly. Then, I heard some voices in the distance.

"We'd better part ways, the police will be here any time soon" I said pulling myself away from her.

"Yeah you're right" she replied reluctantly.

We turned around and started taking off in opposite directions, when I remembered something.

"Oh and Kaede!" I said catching her attention "If you get a chance to see that boy again, take it, it would do you some good!" After that I turned around and started running again, not paying attention to her surprised visage.

As I run I started thinking about what possible arrangements I could take in order to grant me my survival on the streets. I soon noticed something that caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks. It was the small gravestone Kaede built for the small puppy. A sense of guilt took over me as I walked nearer to it.

"I'm sorry" I said out loud "It's my fault. Had I been more careful, none of this would have happened to you" A single tear traveled across my face.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear I'll protect you're friend Kaede, even if it costs me my life"

With that said I made a quick prayer and left. The police was getting closer.

I found myself wondering about what ensued because of my failure once again. The little shy girl I met at the orphanage was now on her way to become a serial killer. Some people would call her a monster at this point, but not me. It was mankind's inability to accept anything different that mad her like this. It was the people who alienated Kaede who were the real monsters.

I was still kind of sick at the idea that my sister would start killing thousands of innocents, but if it meant keeping her alive then it was fine by me.

With time, many things were going to change. Some for the better and most for the worst. But my sister well-being would always be my top priority. That wasn't going to change any time soon.

**There, hope you enjoyed the new chapter! And I really wanna thank all those who reviewed during the wait!**


	7. Help from Above

**Been a long time huh? Well lately my interest for this story dropped a bit. I mean is still wanna finish it, but I never felt like writing. I know, lazy right? But did I promise to finish this story or not? So on with it!**

**CHAPTER 7: A Little Help From Above**

After an hour or so of searching I finally found a shelter. It was an old abandoned church. It did fit the minimum requirements. The roof was still all in one peace so that would guarantee my dryness in rainy days, very few people seemed to visit that place giving me a load of privacy and the seats provided a perfect sleeping place. The only problem being the creepy atmosphere and the place being very cold, but I could live with that. A further advantage being the nearby shops and stealing was something that I was good at.

What made me upset though was the fact that seeing Kaede would get harder. However, if she took my advice about getting closer to the boy then there was a chance I would be able to see her at the same spot the next day. That thought cheered me up quite a bit.

I found myself thinking once again about how my life changed after I left my uncle residence. I met an innocent soul tortured as much as mine and made her my sister but apparently I contributed in making her life even worse. Now she didn't have a home anymore, if that wretched orphanage can be considered home. And there were those mysterious hands of hers... I really didn't want to intrude in Kaede's already messed up life, but I really had to look into that.

I sat down and prepared to go to sleep as the day tired me out quite a bit and thinking about it wasn't going to help. Before I could do that however I noticed how close I was to the really big crucifix that lied in the center of the church. I never really prayed in my whole life, mostly because I never thought it would help. Seeing how my life was going I always thought 'God' abandoned me a very long time ago. However, now the situation was extremely screwed up and a sudden thought came to my mind: there wasnt any harm in trying for once was there?

So I knelt down and did my best to ignore the fact that I felt really stupid.

"Uh... ok... God? Um... well..." saying that I didnt know where to begin was an understatement, I was totally lost! Nonetheless I kept going.

"Well... you see, I think you had a chance to observe how screwed up my sister's life is. I tried my best in making it better but now she really needs some big help. So... if you really are up there somewhere... uh... I really wouldn't mind some help... All I want is something that can make Kaede happy..."

After that I remained silent as if I was waiting for something, but I really dont know what it was.

"I guess... this is when I say Amen, right?" With that said I laid down again finally ready to take some sleep

Thinking about what I had just done made a simple thought cross my head: 'That was such a waste of time'. Soon my eyes closed in order to enjoy the, according to me, very much deserved rest.

When I woke up I heard the sound of rain battering against the ancient roof top. It sounded like it was raining really hard. As soon as I had fully woken up I went outside to go look for Kaede. The fact that I could get ill didnt bother me much. My immune system had fought and won much harder battles. Moreover, in light of recent events, Kaede definitely had the priority.

Before I started heading towards the woods however, I thought about asking around for the time. Maybe I had woken up too soon and it was still too early in the morning to go search for the girl. So I entered the first shop I could find. And headed for the vendor straight away.

"Oh hello young man, are you interested in any of my merchandise?" He greeted cordially.

"I apologize sir, I just need to know the time" I said sheepishly.

"Oh there's no need to apologize for anything" he said smiling before taking a look at his watch "Why its five thirty right now"

I raised a single eyebrow at that "Five thirty in the morning? I'm surprised that you open the shop this early"

He looked at me like I had two heads... and when people look at me like that its not good news. "I meant five thirty in the afternoon"

Did I hear correctly?

"I'm sorry could you repeat that?"

"I said its five thirty in the afternoon" he stated with a very patient tone.

Now it would have been ok for me to oversleep that much I mean its understandable. Nevertheless, you have to understand my reaction. I mean what if Kaede stayed in the woods to wait for me this whole time and the police found her? Or maybe a teacher from the orphanage. Then again it could have been a particularly vengeful parent who wanted justice for his or her kid and...

"WELL SHIT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I run out of the shop as fast as I could not giving a damn about the rain.

Once again anxious thoughts took the best of me and I ran faster and faster. As I passed them by, people gave me a surprised look, I think the main reason was that I kept swearing. In less than a minute I had made use of my whole knowledge of swear words.

I finally made it to the woods and looked pretty much everywhere for the pink haired child. No doubt I got lost at least twice. I then spotted what looked like a pretty big rock and quickly climbed it, hoping to be able to see her from a higher ground level. However, she was nowhere to be seen.

Before my unbelievably long 'swear word combo' could start all over again I heard two voices that seemed to come from the other side of the rock. I decided to take a peek and what I saw really surprised me. I discovered the rock formation was actually a pretty wide cave, full of Shinto decorations. There seemed to be two individuals in the cave. I recognized the first one in less than a second: Kaede. The second figure took me a bit longer but in the end it hit me. It was the same boy from the day before.

I quickly hid again, having decided to listen to what they were saying.

"...I was drawing this sketch yesterday before seeing you. You looked kind of lonely.." That was obviously the boy.

"I dont need your sympathy" came my sister's cold reply.

"And then there was this" With that said the same music from the last time started playing.

"I really like this song and I'm happy you like it too" he said.

AHA! They had things in common! If this guy was trying to get with my little sis he was really on the right track!

After a moment of silence Kaede spoke again

"Thanks for the hat" her tone was now completely deprived of the coldness from before.

Then they both went quiet and listened intently to the music. I smile crept on my face as I leaned against the wall of the cave and decided to join the listening part. It was a really pretty song. Kinda sad but at the same time charming and hypnotizing. I felt relieved from the stress of the past day. The rain kept falling, but I didn't mind, I had never felt so relaxed and carefree before and decided to enjoy it. I would really love to know where that guy got the music box from.

Time went by, and the rain didn't show any interest in stopping. The boy decided to speak up again.

"Looks like it just won't stop raining..."

"Yeah... its cold" agreed the girl.

I heard movement inside the cave followed by Kaede's voice.

"W-what are you doing?" she seemed kinda freaked out.

"Hey relax, its gonna be easier to keep each other warm this way" was his calm reply.

I took a quick peek to be sure that that guy wasn't taking it too far and was relieved to know that he simply moved closer to her. Yep... she's definitely got a crush on this guy.

Though I did a good job ignoring the rain, I really couldn't stand out in the open for much longer. So I decided to leave the two of them on their own and headed back to my 'accommodation'.

Along the way I really couldn't stop smiling at the thought that Kaede finally found someone to talk to except me. I decided that it would be better to wait for a while before introducing myself. I really didn't want to intrude.

As soon as I got in the missing feeling of the rain falling on my head hit me. It felt weird to be in a dry place. I soon noticed the big crucifix staring down on me as if expecting something.

"I guess I owe you one" was my choice of words.

Yep my sister finally had something to be happy about whether it was because of the praying or out of sheer dumb luck. And that was enough to let me at peace with myself. Though I guess a little help from above really was necessary this time.

**There you have it! I know this chapter was fairly uneventful, but as you can see we are nearing the moment of Kaede's rampage and I promise you that its gonna be interesting from there on! **

**At this point I think I should really thank two reviewers in particular: Ash Aijo and redrain8696 who have followed this story for quite a while now and really gave me a lot of support. Thanks guys!**

**But of course I thank everyone who reviewed till now! Till next time!**


	8. The Beginning of Despair

**I guess I don't have much of an excuse for the huge delay this time... I just hope the new chap will satisfy you. This time it's longer than usual. **

**Important: Again, I feel like I used too much repetition... please, if it is annoying I would appreciate you telling me.**

**CHAPTER 8: The Beginning of Despair**

"You sure you don't want me to introduce him to you?" came her sudden question.

"Hey, I'd rather not get in the way of your little affair..." was my teasing reply

Kaede's cheeks reddened "Oh shut up..." she said looking away. Well she still didn't deny my claim. Teasing my sister about her relationship with the boy was just way too much fun to stop.

We were walking together in the park, something I was really enjoying seeing how little time we spent with each other lately. Her horns were now covered by a dark blue hat, which was a present from her new friend. She seemed to take great pride in wearing that particular article of clothing. The fact that she couldn't stop talking about it further supports my statement.

"It's pretty isn't it? I really love its..."

"Color. Yes, I know you told me a thousand times already" I interrupted her, while chuckling to myself.

She smiled at my remark "I know, but I'm just too happy! He is such a nice person! He is actually kind and caring, not like those people from he orphanage".

"Well, forgive me for not being kind and caring" I said crossing my arms and feigning to be deeply offended. That made her giggle softly. After that she hugged me tightly.

"Sorry, you always come first big brother!" At her choice of words it was my turn to smile.

"Ok, ok, just watch it, you're suffocating me" I said laughing.

She let me go, but still kept her beautiful smile. Looking at her radiant face filled me with joy. I had that boy to thank. They had known each other only for a few days, but they already did a lot together. The day before he had brought her to visit the zoo. From the way she described the day and the various animals to me, I could assume that they had had a lot of fun.

"Oh! He invited me to this festival that will take place tonight, do you want to come along?" She asked out of the blue.

"I told you that I'd rather not meet him now, but I guess I could accompany you"

That seemed to make her happy. However, her expression darkened moments later.

"Right after the festival, he'll have to leave Kamakura. He's here only for vacation. He won't come back until the next summer... what will I do once he's gone?" the worry in her voice was easily noticed by me. At that I placed my hand under her chin and made her look me in the eyes.

"Then, we'll just wait for him to come back. Together. No matter what happens, you'll never be alone again" was my firm reply.

She seemed stunned by my sudden change in character, but she was quick to recover. Kaede rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears that were about to fall on her cheeks. "Thanks Alex, you're the best!"

I smiled again at her newly found joy. "Well, I guess that I should get ready for the festival. And yes, by 'getting ready' I mean I'll be snoring in the church for a while."

She giggled and waved goodbye. "Take your time" she said "He's gotta spend some time with his cousin first"

At that my teasing senses started tingling. "Oh-ho, I see you got some competition!"

"His cousin is a guy!" she said scowling a bit.

"Oops, my bad. Well, catch you later!" And I was off. I was definitely planning on taking a nap. Watching over Kaede was more tiring that I thought. Yep, a nap was definitely what I needed.

With time I had grown accustomed to the cold climate of the church so it didn't really stop me from sleeping of the fatigue I had accumulated over the past days.

Yet, there was something else that prevented me from sleeping peacefully. That day I dreamed of blood and corpses. All of the dead bodies were brutally mangled, some of them seemed to have been cut in a thousand pieces, others had been beaten to an unrecognizable pulp. I noticed that it looked a lot like what Kaede had done to the bullies from the orphanage.

Then I noticed her frail figure in the distance and ran toward her.

"Kaede! Hey Kaede! Are you alright?" But I received no response.

Once I reached her I was about to tap her shoulder, when she turned around all of a sudden. Her benevolent eyes, seemed full of hatred. That feeling I had when my sister first met the boy was back. I finally realized it was killing intent. Then I noticed that four ghostly hands were seemingly growing from her back.

It was too much to take all in. I screamed as hard as I could, tapping into the full power of my lungs.

And just like that, I woke up.

I started thinking about what that dream could have meant. Was something going to happen to the festival? However, realizing that believing in a nightmare would have been childish of me, I shrugged it off. Noticing that it was almost dark outside I left the church to go to the festival.

I would only realize how stupid ignoring that dream had been, when it was already too late.

The place was filled with many people, and all of them seemed to be having a good time. I could hear children laughing over the loud chatting of the grownups. The great number of stands that were present also surprised me. The atmosphere was also made joyous by the bright light of the many lanterns. Over all, the carefree atmosphere put me in a really good mood. It wasn't the same for Kaede however, who kept looking all over the place hoping to see her new friend amidst the crowd.

"Hey calm down, he'll be here" I said doing my best to reassure her.

"I just hope that I'll be able to see him" her tone seemed rather hopeless now.

"I'm sure you will" she forced herself to smile before a noise caught our attention.

The sight that stood quite a few meters in front of me left me quite surprised. It was Kaede's friend and a girl was hugging him in a very affectionate manner.

"No! I don't want you to go! Why do I have to wait until next summer? It's not fair!" She cried in a very loud voice. As if that didn't leave me baffled enough, the way he was comforting her was also rather odd.

"Hey come on now, don't cry" he said as he gently stroked her hair with affection. Too much affection. That scene was starting to confuse me more and more. Then I remembered about my sister, whose eyes were as big as saucers. She was starting to feel betrayed and I could tell.

"But why?... He..." she was rudely interrupted, however, by a seemingly drunk man bumping into her and consequently sending her falling on the ground.

"Watch it you stupid kid! You're in the way!" He said as he walked away. After those words were spoken I was seething with rage.

"Why don't you look where you are going? You drunken fat ass!" I shouted at him.

He turned around and seemed to consider the option of giving me a good beating, but then noticed something about my face that changed his facial features in what resembled terror. The man then proceeded in walking away at a fast pace. It seemed that I had the same devilish eyes from that time I confronted Tomo, but they soon turned normal again when I knelt down to tend to my sister.

"Kaede! You ok sis?" she didn't answer me and that scared me beyond belief. After a few seconds she started talking...to herself.

"Why did you do this to me? No more, I can't take it anymore! No friends, no home, I'm completely alone!" she was crying all the while. This was gonna drive her crazy.

"Don't say that! You're not alone you hear me! Don't give up on me Kaede! You are not alone!" Though I was almost shouting, she seemed not to hear me. She just kept crying and it made me feel helpless.

By now, I noticed a small crowd had gathered around us.

"Get out of the way you brats! I'm sick of you trash lying on the streets! Go sleep in a dumpster or something!" I was about to lash out at the obviously drunk man, when I heard two women's voices.

"Look at that girl" said the first one, disgust evident in her voice.

"She's so strong on drugs that she is talking to herself" was the second one's conclusion. And that did it.

"Ok you little shits, do you think we're at a freak show or what? Get the fuck out of my fucking sight before I start shoving my foot up your fucking ass!" I was so angry that I didn't notice I was crying too.

One of the women from before started echoing her thoughts about me. "The boy's definitely an alcoholic. To insult his elders like that, who taught him manners?"

The man's reaction was different "Who the hell do you think you are kid? That's it, I'm gonna teach you and that little bitch what respect means"

I could feel rage and power flowing through my veins, that meant that my pupils were slit again. I looked at the crowd with my best death glare. I guess that I must have looked scary for a 13-years-old kid.

"Listen to me pal" I called out to him "The moment you called my sister a 'bitch' you gave me the idea of dismembering you bit by bit. So if you want to stay alive, you'd better shut the fuck up" as I said I was growing more and more angry and I could feel that my nails were stating to turn into talons. However, before that could transpire Kaede was starting to stand up and I proceeded in shifting my whole attention to her.

She didn't say anything. She just took off her hat, putting her horns into full-view and making a couple of people look at her in a puzzled way.

"Kaede?" I tried to reach for her shoulders, when it happened.

Before I knew it, the whole crowd around us was sliced in half, resulting in a revolting bloody spectacle. In a matter of time panic spread among the people, who were so joyful only mere seconds ago.

"It must have been a bomb! Let's get out of here!" I heard someone scream. Everyone was running away from what they considered a bomb, but I saw what really happened. When the pink haired girl had gotten up a ghostly, transparent arm appeared from her back and proceeded in killing those around me. Was this how Kaede had murdered the kids? Why couldn't anyone else see it?

I remained frozen all the while, from both the need to think of an answer to my questions, as well as from what my innocent little sister had done. In the meantime the horned girl kept walking in the direction where the others were running, barely acknowledging my presence. I saw a young woman dressed in traditional cloth approach her with a concerned face and seemed to ask if she needed any help. Then, another one of those 'arms' that grew from my sister's torso proceeded in decapitating her. That snapped me back to reality. I needed to stop Kaede or this would turn into a massacre. I ran in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders in the attempt to stop her.

"Kaede stop! You must not do this! You are not like them! You can..." I was painfully cut off as she used again one of her new found limbs to hit me in the face and send me crashing against one of the many stands. The blow was hard, but I managed to survive. Nevertheless, my body was drifting into unconsciousness.

"No... not now... I must keep..." It was useless. I couldn't stand up, I couldn't move. The last thing I saw before passing out was a dark haired girl, huddled in a corner staring at the murdering girl with terrified eyes.

I woke up what seemed to be an hour later. My body was still aching, but this time I could stand up. Walking was much more difficult, but it was the least of my problems. My sister had gone on a killing spree and I had no idea of where she was now.

'Think god dammit think!' I thought to myself 'If you were her what would you do?'

I then realized that she would make those who hurt her pay and that meant that boy was first on her list. If he was gonna leave that night it meant he would take a train, so I headed for the station. My pace was really slow as walking would cause me a great deal of pain. In time, I reached my destination. However, there was no one there, apparently the building had already closed. Now I was really clueless about what to do. I fell on my knees and wanted to start crying, but then the sound of someone else crying caught my attention. I quickly diverted my eyes towards where the noise came from. And there she was. Lying against a wall, crying her eyes out was Kaede. Not thinking twice I approached her.

"Hey, you ok?" was my choice of words once I got close enough.

As soon as she noticed me she panicked like never before. "Stay away! Don't come any closer!" Her 'arms' appeared again around her frail body.

"H-hey, easy there! It's me! Alex, your brother!" It didn't really help the situation. She only appeared more scared.

"Get away from me! I-I'm a monster! Didn't you see what I did to everyone? What I did to you? I'm a monster!" she was nearly hysterical.

"Hey don't say that..."

"I killed his whole family!" To say that that left me stunned wouldn't give the idea. The boy's family? She killed them? She killed innocent people?

"What?"

"I killed his sister and his father! I left him alone! He's got no one now! I deserve to die!" Something snapped inside me when I heard those words and my body started walking toward her. That caused her screaming to begin anew.

"I said stay away! I don't want to risk killing you! Just please get away! I don't want to lose you too!" Her 'arms' started to hit the floor next to me in attempt to scare me. No such luck.

Once I reached her, I pulled her close to my face rather violently so that she could look at me in the eyes and before I knew it I was screaming at her.

"Idiot! Did you forget what I told you? Did you?" That outburst surprised her. "You're my sister! You are worth more than a thousand lives to me! Who cares what you did! We are still family and no matter what happens, family sticks together! Got it?" what followed after, were a few moments of silence, before she started crying again and hugged me tightly. I did the same. I could hear her speak words such as 'thank you' 'I'm sorry' every now and then.

We remained locked in that position for a while, then the time to break up the hug sadly came.

"We need to run" I said in a tone of finality "Doesn't matter where, but we have to run"

She nodded in response and so we left the station.

Things would get complicated from there on, we needed to be extra careful. A single mistake could mean forfeiting our lives. The good thing was that we still had each other, but for how long?

**Important!: I am gonna place a time skip from here, the next chapter will take place at the same time as the flash back from episode 10.5. Yep enter AIKO!**

**Also, I promise that after the next chapter everything about Alex's power will be revealed. Once again, I hope you will forgive me for the inexcusable delay.**

**Due to external exams coming up, I dunno when the next chapter will be posted, but I'll do my best! **


	9. Failure

**Well, well. It certainly has been a long time huh? I guess wasting time in excuses would not make my situation any better right? Anyways, this is the next chapter and I can only say sorry for making you guys wait so long.**

**WARNING: This chapter is gonna have quite some gore into it.**

**CHAPTER 9: FAILURE**

It had been five years. Five long years. I still can't believe that we managed to keep running for such a long time. Then again, its not like anyone could understand the way Kaede killed. For the population of the place it was just an increase in the number of deaths by heart attacks. She had become much more reserved over the years. What happened that night at the festival seemed to have left her scarred. Of course I didn't blame her. However, the fact that she had started killing close to anyone who approached her was starting to worry me. As much as I tried to tell her that what she was doing was wrong, she wouldn't listen. Not only that, but she also grew more distant towards me. Maybe it was because she saw me as something different, me being a human, or maybe she didn't want to unintentionally hurt me.

I had to change a bit too. As the years went by, I had time to sharpen my pick-pocketing skills. I stole whatever was lacking to us, from food to clothes, from money to jewelry, and much more. Also, the frequent encounters with gangsters, drug addicts, and drunk people, seemed to increase my fighting abilities. Of course, not by much, but still enough to dodge a couple of more punches than what I used to.

The fact that I was already sixteen kind of surprised me, yet the changes were pretty much evident for both me and Kaede. Her abnormally pink hair had grown quite a lot, already reaching the middle of her back. I, on the other hand, tried my best to stop them from growing to much. While they almost covered my eyes, I kept cutting the back of my hair with whatever I could find, be it a shard of glass or maybe even one of Kaede's ghostly 'arms'. Some of the baby fat disappeared from our faces, making us look slightly more mature.

Despite all of these changes we were still one family and we still cared deeply for each other. Well, after five years went by, I was starting to think that nothing too weird could happen to us anymore. Did any of my many speculations come to be? Definitely not! In fact there I was, locked in a store, hiding from the cops along with my sister and Aiko Takada, the newest addition to our group.

"It's useless, no matter how far we run, they'll get us" said the raven haired girl with a completely depressed tone.

"Geez Aiko, talk about positive thinking! Try to lighten up will you?" I answered, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Sorry, Alex-san. I'm just so scared" Apparently calming her down, was harder than I thought.

"Don't be, tomorrow morning you'll see your mother and everything is gonna be alright, I promise" said my sister.

With those words Aiko seemed to cheer up almost instantly. Thinking of her mother definitely made her feel better.

Oh, right! I still didn't tell you guys how we ended up in this nasty situation. Well, Aiko was a girl that we met one day in the park, where she offered to take care of Kaede's bleeding nose, which was the result of a football colliding against her face. While both me and my little sis were a little distrusting at the beginning we soon realized she was a genuine caring person. The real pain in the ass, was her drunk father who constantly beat her because of her passion for drawing, which reminded him of his wife dumping him. I remember that we got in a pretty long fist fight before Kaede split us up and proceeded in slamming him against the ceiling. Ah, the memories. Anyways, one day he tried to slash at a portrait Aiko had made for her mother. The girl tried to stop him and the poor bastard ended up accidentally slicing his own throat. Of course his lover discovered it and proceeded in calling the police.

So here we are, trying to escape the cops, while hiding in the building where the girl's mother will hold an art exhibition the next morning. Not exactly what I'd call cliché.

Aiko soon started being depressed and scared again. Then again, who wouldn't be? Oh right, my sister.

"What if they find us before though?" asked the raven haired girl.

"Well, then we'll just beat them up, won't we?" I said putting a mocking kung-fu stance in my attempt to lighten the mood.

Aiko stared at me for a few seconds before she started giggling softly. I quickly looked away at the sight, as I was hiding a slight blush that appeared on my face. I've got to admit that she was pretty cute, especially when she smiled. I scratched my head in embarrassment, while me and Kaede started laughing too.

Then my sister started talking. "Besides, look at this."

I could see her arms lengthen, in order to grap the many teddy bears that lied around the store. She then proceeded in making them hover around. The other girl was mesmerized at the sight, and her expression just made me smile.

"H-how are you doing this?" she said sounding very much baffled.

"I told you, I am a magician and there is nothing I can't do!" replied my sister sounding a bit full of herself. I lifted a single eyebrow at that.

"Oi sis, since when did you become so cocky huh?"

She flashed me a big, satisfied, and obviously cocky grin before Aiko suddenly jumped on her.

"Amazing! You're amazing!" She squealed as she hugged my sister. It is needless to say that I was a bit surprised at her reaction. Before I could voice my thoughts, however, she resumed speaking.

"Regardless of how many years have passed, if us three get to play again... please be my friends".

Naturally, I would have been glad to say yes, but I also knew that Aiko was now starting to sound a lot like someone else Kaede knew.

"But I..." started the pink haired girl. She then gently pulled away from the hug.

"Even if I look like this?" Kaede then took off her hat, exposing her horns. The sight made Aiko's eyes slightly widen as my sister looked away. I couldn't do much except stare at her with a pained expression. What came as a reply surprised greatly both me and Kaede.

"It doesn't matter who you are, because I... like you." With that said Aiko kissed my sister on the cheek and although I was really shocked by such a reaction, I quickly averted my gaze. Seeing to girls kiss was already a bit much, but the fact that one of them was my sister made the blush on my face feel wrong.

She then grabbed the knitted hat, put it on and asked "Can I keep this? I'll treasure it as if it is you"

Sudden realization crossed our faces as I shouted "Wait Aiko, you don't plan to go to the police do you?" worry was evident in my voice.

"You can't!" shouted Kaede.

However, a bright light soon illuminated us. We all noticed the many men that were standing in front of us, leading to the obvious conclusion that we had been found.

"Shit." I cursed as my body quickly moved in front of the two girls in an attempt to shield them.

The voices of two men came to my attention. "We stand in front of two diclonii" said the first one.

"We have no evidence that the second one is a diclonius and the third kid is obviously male and human" was the second's reply.

"Believe me, we shouldn't take any risks. The male is probably infected by now too. If we don't do it we'll be killed. Fire!" As soon as he ordered that, a rain of bullets closed in on us, but none came close enough to touch us, as the 'arms' Kaede used quickly protected us. This came as nothing new to me as my younger sibling protected me from bullets many times during the years.

"It's alright. I said it before right? I'm a magician." Came the reassuring voice of the pink haired girl. "Nothing can get in my way"

Nevertheless, no one could foresee what was going to happen next. The sound of a gunshot ran in the air, only moments after Aiko had pushed the other girl out of the trajectory. The bullet went through her body and she started falling, hitting the ground.

Kaede reacted immediately. She screamed in horror and fell on her knees, trying to get the girl back on her feet.

As for me, I just stood there staring wide eyed at the now dying little girl, who just moments ago was giggling in front of my eyes. The image of her pretty face smiling was still fresh in my head. And she was just lying on the ground, struggling to breathe. I also fell on my knees, but was unable to make a sound.

This was a joke right? Of course it had to be! It was just a horrible nightmare. Maybe I fell asleep in the store and dreamed all this.

Aiko couldn't die.

She couldn't.

Right?

She was alive and I was going to wake up and see her alive and smiling... right?

Wrong. She was gone.

Dead.

Murdered.

By those bastards.

All the sadness I felt inside me was replaced by rage. Rage towards the people who killed one of the few people that had been friendly with us. One of the few people who understood Kaede. The only girl, who could be so kind even towards her abusing father. The only girl, that I ever liked.

I reached for Kaede's shoulders and made her face me.

"Take Aiko and run, do whatever you can for her and then you two run away"

She was left wide eyed "What? I'm not leaving you here! You think that I'd..."

"Just do it." I said firmly.

She then looked into my eyes and I think she saw something different in me. Something strong, dark, and powerful. Something... terrifying. Being the smart girl she was, she lifted Aiko's dying body over her shoulders and run away.

"She's getting away! Half of you stay here and guard the boy, he's probably contaminated so don't let him get away!" shouted someone from their ranks as half of them went searching for my sister.

"Heard that kid? You are not going anywhere." One of them shouted towards me.

I faced them and shouted with fury echoing through my voice "**You assholes are going to pay for what you did!"**

My pupils became slit,my eyes turned from sapphire to deep purple, my nails lengthened into claws, my canines became slightly elongated, and a purple aura circled around me like some kind of fog. Overall, I looked like a demon. This was the form I took when I committed my murders. For the first time in my life, I was conscious of the transformation happening. It felt good to just give into all that power and let it have its way.

In less than an instant I was in front of the group of guards and I was ready to commence the slaughter. I clawed at one of them, cutting his arm off. Then, I kicked one in the stomach, probably breaking a few of his ribs. The third one tried to shoot me, but I quickly grabbed one of his comrades and used him as a human shield, therefore making him take the hits instead of me. As soon as his friend realized that he had killed his own, he stopped firing and gave me an opening. I used my claws to dig a whole in his chest and proceeded in ripping his heart out.

I gazed at the still pulsating organ, and smiled wickedly. Breaking these men was giving a strong pleasure. Needless to say, I wanted to keep going. I squeezed the heart until it exploded , making blood rain on my arm. The soldier, whose arm I amputated, tried to reach for a gun that was lying on the floor, but never reached for it as I put a whole in his head using my index finger. The last one was left trembling as he was paralyzed with fear. I was soon in front of him and punched him in the face, sending him on the floor right next to the one that I kicked previously.

Then, an extremely sadistic idea came to my head. I used my new razor-sharp nails to open up the first's stomach, then I dug my arm into it as he screamed loudly. When I had found the intestines I managed to rip them out and started strangling the other man with them. All the while I had been laughing maniacally, completely aware that I was brutally torturing two living beings.

Even though I kept telling my sister that killing was wrong, back then I could not care less. The one I was strangling soon went limp. Surprisingly, the other one was still alive, so I quickly dug into his wound again and broke off a rib. I then used it to pierce his head.

I took a good look at my handy work and started laughing again. I knew that I needed to go and find Kaede, but something wanted me to stay here and take a shower in their blood, or take a very good look at their liver and maybe... taste it.

"NO!" I shouted loudly. I was letting my new found power control me too much. I needed to make sure my sister was safe. So I fought my sadistic urges and started searching. My body returned to normal, from my eyes to my nails.

Something was weird. It was like I knew exactly where she was. How? Beats me. There wasn't much time so I just trusted this weird instinct of mine. Was it also part of that power?

When I finally reached my destination, I found Kaede being held on the floor by a soldier forcefully. Then everyone saw me and gawked at my appearance. Seeing a sixteen years old covered in blood probably wasn't easy to take in. Rage started boil in me once agin once I saw Kaede.

"Let her go you bastards!" I started running towards them, but I was soon stopped in my tracks by a sharp pain in my chest and I fell to the ground.

Taking a closer look, I noticed that I was bleeding and that my vision was getting blurred. Then it hit me.

Someone shot me in the heart. I was going to die. I heard some more voices.

"Yu! Why did you do that? He was just a normal kid!"

"He was infected anyways, and judging from his appearance, I would say he found a way to kill the others. He is a murderer. Trust me, it's better this way"

"But... still..."

"ALEX! What did you do to him? Alex wake up!" That was definitely Kaede.

"K-Kaede..." Through my blurred vision I could see the shapes of the soldiers taking her away.

"Brother! Nii-san! No! Don't die!" She kept shouting but I couldn't hear her anymore. My sight was only able to help me in understanding that they were getting far away.

"Ka...Kae... sis..." Before I could formulate a sentence I went limp.

So, you guys probably think that this is when you came over and I started telling you my story huh? Well, it actually isn't. Believe me I was dead, but that wasn't gonna be the first time.

That day fractured me. I had let loose my killer instinct on purpose, I couldn't protect neither my sister, nor Aiko. I was a failure.

**If Alex's words puzzle you, don't worry I'll explain everything. In fact, the next chapter will also unravel our hero's past! I can assure you that he is dead, but his story is far from over! Rate and Review or I will set Alex loose on you! XD **


	10. The Birth of the Devil

**I am back already! I really want to make it up to you guys for the long wait so the tenth chapter is here!**

**Once again, I do not own Elfen Lied, but only my characters.**

**CHAPTER 10: THE BIRTH OF THE DEVIL**

Darkness. Everywhere around me was darkness. I was drifting through it, feeling absolutely weightless. Not the slightest glimpse of a light source and yet I could see my body perfectly. There was no sound ringing in the air. I was alone in the darkness, and everything was just so relaxingly calm. Or at least most people would define it relaxingly calm, but as you already know I am definitely not 'most people'.

"Wow, if this is the afterlife I've got to admit this is some boring shit." I said very plainly.

I was quite surprised when I heard another voice chuckle at my remark.

"Hey, who's there?" I asked bewildered.

"Relax, my child. There is nothing to fear." Was the voice's answer and I could tell that it was definitely female.

"Yeah, well the whole 'mysterious voice' thing is really creeping me out."

"Forgive my manners Alex" said the voice, right before a bright flash of light appeared in front of me. I shielded my eyes in an attempt to protect them from the light. As soon as I looked back, a beautiful woman with auburn hair and brown eyes was standing in front of me. She was wearing a long white dress and smiled warmly at me.

"Whoa, wait a second, back up. Are you supposed to be God? 'Cause everyone told me that you were supposed to be an old guy!" I told the woman.

She laughed softly at my answer. "Oh no dear, I am not God. My name is Asuka and you are not in Heaven or Hell for the matter"

"But... that bullet... my heart... it..." I really couldn't make a sentence, I was sure I was dead. "Didn't I die back there?"

"You certainly did, but your soul still didn't reach the afterlife. It is stuck somewhere in the middle between Earth and Heaven" she explained.

"But why? And even so who are you really? When..." My question was never finished as she grabbed my face and pulled it closer to hers.

"Let me take a good look at you. You certainly became a fine boy" she seemed to take in every detail about my appearance.

"Hey! Let go! What are you doing?" What did this woman want with me?

"Well, I am glad that you got your father's eyes" She released her hold and I was left dumbfounded.

"Excuse me, what?" Did she compare me to my father? But how would she know anything about him? I knew nothing myself.

"You have the same eye-color as your father: sapphire blue. What, you want me to spell it out to you?" Sarcasm evident in her voice.

"You knew my dad? How?" I asked, obviously in the dark about many things.

"Wow, kind of slow, aren't you? Haven't you made the connection yet, dear?" Connection? What sort of connection? Was she related to my dad somehow? What was she, his sister,his cousin, or maybe his mother?

Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning. Could it be? No, it couldn't. Or maybe it could. I took one closer look at her. We had the same shade of auburn hair, some matching facial traits, and even the same annoying sarcasm.

"M-mom?" I uttered the word. Was she the one woman that I always wanted to meet, was she really the one person that I could have called mother?

A received a nod on her part and a war m smile "Yes Alexander, you are my son"

I must have looked really stupid because my mouth was hanging open and my eyes were really wide. The woman... I mean, my mother started laughing softly again.

"B-but, how are you... I-is this...Y-you...M-me, I..." Once again I was unable to form any concrete sentence. I was standing in front of my mother and I couldn't make an intelligent question.

"Honey, I know this is a lot to take in. I am here to explain the situation to you, as well as answer as many questions as possible." Her soft voice did a really good job in calming me down. I took a deep breath and made sure I could speak properly again.

"What do you mean, explain the situation?"

"There is a lot that you should know. Regarding your powers, your origins, and your friend Kaede" That name made me remember about the whole situation I had just been through, and the danger my sister was currently in.

"Kaede! What happened to her? Where did they take her? Is she alright?" I could not stop worrying, she could be seriously hurt by now. However, my panic was soon stopped by my mother once again.

"Alex, I need you to calm down. Your sister is fine. There is a lot you don't know about her and I can clear things up"

I took a deep breath, trying to listen to her. I can assure you it wasn't easy. Knowing that your sister could be in danger and you couldn't do anything to save her made feel extremely miserable.

"Ok, what is it that I should know... mom?" Calling her that felt weird, it would take a really long time to get used to it. She smiled, obviously happy of being called 'mom'.

"First off, she isn't the only one possessing that kind of power. She belongs to a species different from humans. They are called dicloni. As I'm sure you already witnessed, they have the power to control a variable number of invisible 'arms', which vibrate at an extremely high frequency, making them capable of piercing even the hardest of metals. These 'arms' are called vectors."

She was right on one thing: this was a lot to take in. I got to know that there were more people like my sister, with the same destructive power or maybe even greater. Moreover, now I knew that those things were called vectors and that my sister was not human after all. Then I noticed that there was a flaw in her reasoning.

"Wait, you said that they are invisible. Then how come I can see them, while apparently everyone else can't?" I had been asking myself that for a really long while.

"That, is where your father comes in." She said lowering her gaze. Mom appeared to be very nostalgic at that precise moment.

"You see, when a diclonius is found he is brought at a facility not far from the coast of Kamakura. The place is lead by a terrible man, named Kakuzawa." As soon as she mentioned the name a hateful expression came across her face, but it was for just a short instant.

Mom then resumed her explanation. "He conducts horrible experiments on the inmates, making all employees believe that every diclonius is a monster when they are just in need of affection. He also lies about wanting to rid the world of their species, but his real purpose is to somehow harness their power and become some kind of god in a world dominated by dicloni."

Just the thought that my sister might be in the grasp of such a terrible man gave me the chills. Thinking that she might be going through one of those experiments made me want to scream. Nevertheless, I was able to restrain myself and decided to let mom continue.

"However, he was also afraid that the new race might turn on him. So he decided that since God has his angels at his side, he was also going to create his very own angel in order to keep the dicloni in line. So his men kidnapped hundreds of newborns from various poor families around the country. Kakuzawa then made all those poor babies go through horrific genetic experiments. It was too much to handle for them, most of them died. However, one was strong enough to survive."

"My father." I concluded for her. She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, his spirit was already strong at such a young age. You saw the results of the experiment yourself. He gained the ability to undergo the same transformation that you did when you took down those guards, as well as being able to see vectors and the ability to sense their presence. Just like you, he had trouble controlling his powers at the beginning, but in time he learned to control them. He became exactly what Kakuzawa wanted: a hell hound that followed his commands. Despite the lies that he fed him, he was still able to develop feelings so he was nowhere close to be an emotionless killing machine."

Even though I never had the chance to meet him, I started feeling sorry for the man that would have been my father. He grew up doing an evil man's bidding, thinking that it was the right thing to do.

"Nonetheless", my mother continued "everyone in the facility tried to keep what they did to the girls hidden from him. So every time one of them escaped, he got her back in the building at all costs, thinking he was stopping monsters from roaming free. Your father was still able to understand what was going on and escaped himself, hiding in Kamakura for a while. Then we met and fell in love with each other." Her cheeks were red by the time she said that last sentence.

I wasn't a big fan of love stories, but I couldn't help but smile at her reaction. Probably because she was part of my very own family.

"A-anyways, he didn't waste anytime in starting a war against the director. Some of his friends in the facility joined him and together, they busted out some dicloni. Even some of the staff started doubting Kakuzawa. Knowing well that he had to do something, he... took action. They got to know about me and used me as a bait to get to him. They... threatened to kill me if he was to fight and... I told him to kill them and not to worry about me, but he still didn't. In the end, they took us both down." She lowered her gaze in sorrow at the thought of what was obviously a painful memory.

"Knowing fully well that we were in danger" Mom went on "A few days before our deaths, we left you with my brother. I know that life with your uncle must have been hell for you, but it was the only way we could protect you. Please forgive me."

I was left wide-eyed. Mom and dad definitely didn't go through an easy life themselves, but still did their best to be there for me. Now my mother was asking forgiveness for something that she did only to keep me alive. I moved towards her and hugged her as tightly as I could. I could see that she was a bit surprised, but soon returned the hug and gave me a warm smile.

"I'm grateful to have had such caring parents" Not a trace of uncertainty was present in my voice.

"Thank you honey, it means a lot to hear that" She said as she gently broke up the hug. "Now to get down to business. You are probably the only one who can stop Kakuzawa. Because of that you have been granted another chance at life."

Now, how would you feel if someone told you that you could be resurrected? Yep, ecstatic.

"Say what? Are you serious?" I couldn't contain my excitement. I could get another chance to save my sister.

"Yes, however, you must not rescue your sister." All of my joy had disappeared in an instant.

"What? Why? You expect me to let them torture her?" How could my own mother suggest such a thing?

"Would you rather be her killer? You saw what you did with those people. If you lose control, you might end up killing the very same girl you are trying to protect."

I was about to reply, but stopped. Sadly, she had a point. The last time I was barely able to control the sadistic urges that were going to take over my body. What if I were to brutally murder Kaede? No, I couldn't let that happen.

"Then what do you expect me to do?"

"You inherited your father's abilities and must learn to control them just as he did. You must get out of town and practice control over your powers. You'll go back to Kamakura after two years. I can guarantee you that Kaede will be there at that time, more than this I cannot reveal."

"You think that by harnessing these powers, I'll be able to save anyone? You saw me back there, I looked and acted like the devil on Earth! I'm no savior, I'm just a monstrosity created by the humans!" My eyes were starting to water.

It couldn't be done. Me helping dicloni with those freaky claws of mine? Yeah right, I would probably end up killing innocent people without knowing it. My mom just sighed at my fierce reaction.

"You think you're the devil huh? Fine, then remember that Kakuzawa likes to play God. He is malevolent and corrupt god, no doubt about that. You, my son, are the one devil that will defeat this false deity and assure a brighter future for both humans and dicloni!"

Once again, she had a point. It was as if the angels decided to destroy the world and it was up to demons to save it. I was the only devil left and I was going to make that bastard pay for the wrongs he did to my sister and all the other dicloni. I had found new purpose in my existence, I died a failure and was going to start over with my new life.

I nodded at my mom, showing my understanding of the situation. In response, she smiled and placed a hand on my head, ruffling my head in the process. Suddenly, my body was slowly starting to disappear in thin air.

"It is time for your return." A single tear fell down her cheek as she said that.

"I love you mom"

"I love you too Alex, my son." And with that said, my body had completely disappeared.

I opened my eyes and found myself in the exact spot where I died. I noticed that the sun was up, meaning that I had been out for several hours, or maybe days. At first, I thought what I experienced was only a dream, but it felt too real. In any case, I needed to get out of town. The sooner I started controlling my powers, the more chances I had to save Kaede.

That day, a devil was born. That devil, had been chosen to dethrone the malefic god that planned to take down the world.

**So, did you really think that I was going to keep Alexander out of the Elfen Lied story? Never!**

**I guess you could say that this ends the first half of my story. In the next chapter, I will place a time skip of two years, leading us right into the events of the anime!**

**Hope I did not bore you! 'Till next time, and R&R! **


	11. Two Years, Two Dicloni

**What is going on my brothers and sisters? So as I already mentioned previously, with chapter 10 done you could say I finished the introductory half of the story. With this chapter we start the second half, which takes place during the events of the anime. So, without further ado, I give you Elfen Lied!**

**CHAPTER 11: TWO YEARS, TWO DICLONI**

Wow. Two years. Just... wow. It sure felt like much longer. Now I had returned and as I gazed on Kamakura from a distance I noticed that nothing and I mean nothing, had changed. Of course I knew that it wasn't just the place that had stayed the same; people were obviously just as prejudicial as they always had been. If you think about it, the one that changed the most was me. Both my body and mind had matured a lot during this time. Contrary to my expectations, I ended up growing well and reached the height of an average 18 years old boy. I also decided to let my hair grow and now reached the end of my neck. The control over my powers had become close to total. There were some things about me that would never go away: one being my obnoxious sarcasm, and the other was my will in finding Kaede. Yes, my mother told me that she would be in town around that time and finding her was my primary goal. The other thing I was determined in doing was killing the ones that took her, starting with Kakuzawa. Like my father before me, I was now able to sense the presence of any diclonius in the same area. At the moment I could tell that one was close by, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

I kept walking until I finally got back to my so-called home town. Nothing had changed indeed. As I neared the place where the diclonius was supposedly located I noticed that the zoo that my sister loved so much was nearby. I decided to make a temporary stop at the gate. I could hear the various noises from many different kinds of animals. A grim expression crossed my face.

"Kaede... I know that I failed to protect you. I also know that your life must have been a living hell in the past two years. Thinking of you every time I tried to use my abilities kept me sane, your memory made me endure the pain of my training. As a sign of gratitude, I will make sure that those who hurt you suffer before dying the most horrible death." Talking to myself wasn't going to do anything, but it made me feel at peace with myself. Well, 730 days of solitude succeeded in making me feel lonely sometimes.

I turned around to resume my walk, but ended up bumping into someone. As we both fell on the ground, I quickly tried to apologize. Even if I was some kind of mutated revenge-thirsty killer, it didn't mean that I forgot my manners.

"Sorry, I didn't see you. I was..." However, I had to stop mid-sentence as I noticed that the other person had pink hair and red eyes: The basic traits of a diclonius. For a second I thought it could have been my sister, but then came the realization that she was too young, probably around 3 years younger than me. She was wearing a black dress and on her head she donned a... tie? Whoa, were ribbons not used anymore?

"Oh no, it's my fault. I am... new to this town and I am still trying to get my bearings, so I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking" As she talked I noticed that this girl was the one I sensed earlier. This dropped my hopes to a level way below zero. On the other hand, I was glad that this one was not aggressive, or at least for the moment. I helped her up.

"No worries. It can be pretty hard to understand where you are going the first times, but you'll get used to it eventually." After checking that she was ok I turned to leave, but was stopped by a noise that sounded an awful lot like the roar of a lion, only much stronger in intensity. I turned around to face the girl and noticed that her cheek had turned red. Realizing that the noise came from her stomach I sighed heavily and walked back towards her.

"Let me take a wild guess: you're hungry"

"I couldn't find any food around here and so I haven't eaten anything since yesterday..." She kept looking down in shame.

I kept looking at her wide eyed. Was this girl functionally retarded or something? Didn't she try in the shops? Only then I realized that this could be her first contact with the human world, so she probably had no idea what shops were. I took yet another heavy sigh. This was gonna be a waste of time, but leaving this girl to starve would never do my conscience any good. Then again, she could be useful to me. If this diclonius never saw the normal world before, it could mean that she came from the facility and had escaped or something like that. Maybe I could extrapolate key information about other diclonii who managed to escape, which might lead me to Kaede. Moreover, leaving someone of her kind free to roam around without supervision was risky.

"Wait here. Literally, don't move from this very spot." Hopefully she was gonna listen to me. I did not wait for her reply and walked away.

Thank god I hadn't lost my pickpocketing skills. In a few minutes, I had accumulated enough money to buy some food. Then the money was to be spent on one sandwich... actually two, the girl wasn't the only one who was hungry. To my relief she had not moved while I was away.

"Catch" and with that said I threw the newly bought sandwich in her direction, which she was able to clumsily grab.

The look on her face as she started tasting the food was one of pure joy and relief. I also enjoyed getting something to eat, but never got my eyes off her. The fact that a diclonius was so calm around normal humans was suspicious; she could become aggressive at any minute.

"Wow that was amazing! Thank you mister!" she said in an overjoyed tone

"Humph, don't mention it" was my rather cold reply.

"Well... I should really go now. If only I knew where..." She looked around worryingly, frightened by her lack of familiarity with the place.

"And what is it that you are supposed to be doing exactly" I asked raising an eyebrow. What was this girl after?

"Oh nowhere special! J-just want to check out the rest of the town." Right, and I'm a two years old who is in search of Fairyland. Nevertheless I could not let her go on her own. She would end up hurting either herself or others.

"I'll come with you, don't want you to get lost again. After all, I know this place pretty well."

She gave me a huge smile "Thank you! I really appreciate that!"

No caution whatsoever in approaching a stranger, this girl must have seen very little of the human world. For quite a few hours, we roamed around Kamakura visiting shops and other places. The diclonius constantly marveled at everything around her as if it was gold. Throughout the day, I had not detected the presence of any other dicloni. Where could my sister be? My mother had assured me that she would be in the town in two years time. Was she wrong about that? Babysitting this kid was just a waste of time.

"Wow it's beautiful!" screamed the young girl as she sighted the beach and made a run for the sea. One of the very few things that were famous in Kamakura was actually the beach.

I looked at her as she played with the water and the way she smiled happily. Suddenly, I was brought back to the moments I saw my sibling smile and have fun like that. In a way, they were a lot alike. That thought made my lips curve upwards as well. This person was nowhere near a monster, o doubt about that.

"Someone's having fun." I said while chuckling. I had been kinda cold towards her up to this point, so it was only fair for me to warm up to her.

"I had never done this, it feels wonderful!" she said while laughing "Why don't you take a bath as well?"

"Nah, I think I'll keep watching you from here. You just make sure to enjoy it." She smiled warmly at me and kept playing. Yes, definitely the same expression. Nostalgia was starting to touch my heart at the thought of the one person I was on the lookout for.

Then suddenly I felt something. I could feel a diclonius was nearby in the town. This presence felt very different from the girl's. It was cold and menacing, as if the one emitting it was ready to kill every living thing on this planet. It was threatening enough to send chills down my spine. This could not be Kaede. The other diclonius must have felt it too as she had jolted upright and her eyes went wide.

"I have to go" agitation evident in her voice as she started to walk away.

"What's wrong?" I needed to act clueless.

"I just remembered there's something I have to do." she said dismissively.

"Do you want me to come with you?" When I said that, she turned around and smiled again.

"No, it's better if I go alone. Thanks for everything you did"

"No problem. I'll see you around then." I said smiling back.

"Sure. Have to go, bye bye" She then sped off towards the general direction of the new diclonius.

As soon as she left, my expression grew cold again. This new individual was most probably not Kaede, so the reason why the little girl was after her didn't concern me. I was aware however about the mess that two dicloni would make if they were to fight. So I ran as fast as fast as I could in the same direction.

Not wanting to meet the girl again, I took a couple of different turns. My greater knowledge of the streets allowed me to get there first. The enhanced agility my body possessed allowed me to quickly jump on a tree. I kept on leaping from tree to tree until a long stone staircase came into sight. I kept myself hidden between the branches as I looked around. Then I saw her. She was sitting on one of the steps, wearing a pink shirt with a yellow skirt. A green hat covered her horns. She appeared to be deep in thought, but also ready to kill the first person to walk by. Thank God dicloni couldn't detect my presence.

I kept staring at her for a while longer. The urge for killing evident in her presence made it easy for me to not regard her as a simple girl. A few minutes later the clumsy female teenager from before walked in behind her.

"Excuse me…of course you knew I was coming and I knew you would know. I am going to go home… and you are going to come with me"

Oh man was hell gonna break lose!

**Whoa writing block sure is a bitch! Anyways I do have to admit that a part of the wait was intentional. I wanted you guys to feel the time skip (I am so evil). I guess you can tell that the next chapter will be filled with action so I advise you not to miss it!**


	12. My Name Is Zale

_**Important!**_**: There are a couple of things you should understand before reading this. 1) When Kaede was taken away from Alex she did not notice his change in appearance due to his powers. 2) Alex never got to know the boy's name was Kouta. 3) Alex does not know that Kurama and Yu Kakuzawa were present the night he died (or that the latter shot him).**

**CHAPTER 12: MY NAME IS ZALE**

"Excuse me…of course you knew I was coming and I knew you would know. I am going to go home… and you are going to come with me" Words that were spoken with shyness but with a firm tone.

It took me a while to realize that the petite girl was holding a bag.

"It's no use running away" she then placed her bag on the staircase. "I've already told them I found you. They know you're here."

Didn't take much t make the connection. The bag had transmitters in it. This meant that armed forces were on the way. The other girl, who had completely ignored the younger one, finally stood up. However, she did not bother looking at her face.

"What's next? Will you kill me too?" My bets were definitely on that outcome.

"So far I've never been forced to kill one of our species" Her voice was cold and intimidating. She started walking away after having thoroughly confused the other diclonius.

"Please wait a minute!" She said making the older girl stop in her tracks and look at her. Stubborn little thing wasn't she?

"You know, they won't let me go home... not until I bring you back with me" Almost felt sorry for the poor thing. Nevertheless, I knew that no one would want to go back to wherever dicloni were kept.

The other one finally made her move. I could see her vectors lengthen and reach for her opponent's body. I counted four, but it was impossible to tell whether she possessed more. They were barely touching the teen's body, probably grabbing onto vital organs.

"Stand still. It's as easy as moving an artery in your brain. My lightest touch could kill you." That sentence succeeded in making shorty's expression filled with fear.

Seeing that she was able to scare her adversary, the taller girl released her hold.

"Go home." she said in a commanding tone.

Phew. That went well. No bloodshed whatsoever. Nothing would happen as long as short stuff would not insist about...

"Hold on!" ...great.

The much more aggressive diclonius whipped around and hit the poor thing with a vector, sending her body against a wall. Blood was dripping from her mouth as she knelt on the stone steps.

"I was going to let you go. After all, there are not that many of us out there, but you are such a pain in the ass."

Harsh. Definitely harsh.

Still, I couldn't deny that shorty had to back down. Going up alone against someone like that wouldn't be wise. Instead, it looked like she was getting mad.

"I'm a pain?" she said through gritted teeth. She stood up quickly and evidently ready to fight "That's not pain! I'll show you what pain is!"

Her vectors lunged towards her opponent, who merely dodged it by jumping backwards in order to get out of the teen's vector range. No such luck. To the surprise of both me and the other diclonius, shorty's vectors were still able to hit her hard and send her flying ten meters away before landing in a nearby graveyard. Those were some surprisingly long vectors.

As short stuff started walking towards her opponent to finish her off, I decided to follow her while still leaping from tree to tree in order to keep myself concealed. For now, I only wanted to see this develop in case someone was to let out a clue about Kaede's whereabouts.

"Your vectors... they are longer than mine."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. But, for papa, I'll teach you a lesson."

The fight took a while longer. However, it wasn't long until the younger diclonius figured out that her enemy's powers were much stronger than hers. So she resorted to using a vector to restrain her movements.

"If you can't walk, you can't leave." Good move. After all, she only needed to wait for the reinforcement she called. Her moves had been pretty slow while fighting, but maybe she wasn't as naïve as I thought.

"Don't do it! Stop fighting!" shouted a young girl with raven hair that had just come out of nowhere.

The ruckus those two had made probably alerted her. She was in danger here, especially because she was so close to the more aggressive diclonius. The petite girl realized this as well.

"Don't come any closer!" As soon as she said that she removed her hold from her opponent's leg. Idiot.

In less than two seconds her left leg and the fingers on her left hand were cut off, sending blood spluttering around the place. All the while, the sadistic girl had an evil grin on her face. However, the traumatizing sight was too much to handle for the newcomer.

"NOOO!" She screamed quite loudly. In fact, loudly enough to annoy the diclonius that was still standing, who promptly hit her with a vector and sent her flying on a tree nearby me.

I was about to jump down and check on her, when I remembered about something: the teen diclonius was still conscious. If she was in trouble before, she was really in deep shit now. I could hear her weep and sob.

Should I intervene? No, It's none of my business! I'm here for Kaede!

I turned around to see that the bloodthirsty girl was now standing over her, looking down at her with the most intimidating look I ever witnessed. I quickly averted my gaze.

I shouldn't get involved in this! I don't even know her! What difference would her death make?

"I'm not scared of you! It doesn't hurt at all!" She yelled.

What followed was a bone chilling scream. I looked back in time to see her right arm being ripped off.

"So does it hurt now?" was the cold response.

I saw her trying to crawl away from that terrifying person, who was unfazed by the blood she was spilling.

"Please no... no more..." she begged through teary eyes.

Her remaining limbs were ripped off one after the other. She looked so much like her. Like Kaede. She was in pain. She was lying there in a pool of blood, with no arms or legs. I couldn't let this go on. The other one was readying her vectors for the final blow.

"Are you suffering? Does it hurt yet? Don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery."

Before she had the chance to blink, I leaped in font of her. My sudden appearance startled her.

I gave her my best death glare, my eyes having already turned into that infamous shade of purple. My slit pupils gazing straight into her eyes. She quickly recovered from the shock and proceeded in giving me a taste of her own death glare. It was surprising to realize that they were of the same intensity, as if our hatred for the world was almost matching.

"Get away from her" My voice was as cold and demanding as possible, though probably never as cold as hers.

She took a moment, but just a moment, to study me. I appeared as a normal human to her. One that could be easily killed. Then one of her vectors tried to grab my face, in an attempt to severe it from my neck. It only took me a step to the side to dodge it, I then had to jump backwards to avoid another one.

This time she wasn't startled, she was in shock. How could a mere human dodge her vectors so well? I smirked at her expression.

"You can see them?"

"No, I just started jumping around randomly in the hope of avoiding them. What do you think?"

"How? You are not...What are you?" She completely ignored my sarcasm... I should give her credits for that.

"Someone who's just passing by" I took a step forward and made sure that she could see my claws and extended canines.

"I'll say it again,get away from her and I won't hurt you"

After hearing that, her shock disappeared and she started glaring again.

"Don't get cocky you puny human!" She shot a few vectors towards me.

I lunged towards her and evaded most of her attacks. She was able to graze my left shoulder however, leaving a long cut. Damn she was fast. That made me stop at a meter from her, waiting for her next move. She appeared to be doing the same. We stood there for around ten seconds when I noticed something glistening in the distance. That meant one thing: sniper. I ran towards the girl as fast as I could.

"Get down!" I proceeded in pushing her out of the way. The bullet ended up hitting the statue behind us.

The diclonius turned around and finally noticed the sniper in the distance. Then she looked at me with something that was both anger and surprise. Before we could say anything we noticed a man with long black hair wearing a blue suit and glasses walking in our general direction.

"Nana?" He uttered.

"Papa..." The weak girl called back, suddenly regaining consciousness. So her name was Nana huh?

Nana took that chance to shove one of her vectors in the other girl's head, who in turn started screaming. After she calmed down we both noticed her vectors had disappeared completely.

"What did you do?" She yelled in anger.

"That settles it" said the man "There is no way I can forgive you... no way in hell."

We were completely surrounded by armed soldiers and the man started walking towards Nana. Surprisingly enough, the girl did not attack him.

"Papa is it?" she suddenly interjected "Too bad your daughter is dead"

Ouch. While this situation was definitely confusing for me, I could tell that it was an ouch moment.

"Yes" he said "I killed her!" He turned around and slapped her across the face, sending her on the floor.

"That's nothing compared to the pain you caused Nana, but it's the least I could do." he told her, as she gazed back with her usual hateful look.

Then a guy wearing a lab coat shouted "Stand back chief! Everyone take your aim!"

The soldiers pointed their guns at the diclonius, who was still on the ground.

Well that was enough harassing.

I moved in front of her and shielded her as best as I could. Back then I didn't know why, but such a situation felt oddly familiar. My course of action shocked everybody that was there.

"You guys know what is it that always pissed me off since I was a kid? People ganging up on girls"

"Kid get away! You don't know what you're doing!" was what the man in suit shouted to me.

"As a matter of fact I do! Now back off will ya!" My sudden outburst shocked everyone even more.

I could feel the person I was protecting standing up and scowling at me.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked irritated.

"I never said that I wanted you dead. I just wanted you to leave your 'friend' alone. Now, since we are both aware that your powers are... how do I say this? Gone? How about you disappear? Wasn't that your plan?" I looked back at her with purple eyes and while smirking.

She scoffed and ran towards the nearby forest.

"Follow her!" Barked the lab coat guy.

Once again in the blink of an eye, I was in front of the group of soldiers.

"Do I have to explain this? I am not letting you go" At that remark the doctor guy seemed to get angry.

"Half of you go! The rest make sure the kid doesn't move!"

Before I could sprint towards the group that was supposed to go past me, the other half of the squad fired a few shots in front of me to stop me in my tracks. Even though I was conscious that the girl was now being followed I still smiled.

"Oh well... I guess she can handle that many of you"

"Don't you get it boy? That person is dangerous! She needs to be captured!" Shouted the doctor.

As if I wasn't aware of what dicloni had to go through.

"I'm sorry did you say something?" This last reply seemed to anger one of the recruits in front of me.

"Why? Why are you defending her? She is nothing but a freak!"

I looked at him after hearing that.

Freak. Did he call her freak? Now I'm sure you guys remember how I feel about that word. I glared at the guy, making sure he could understand how intimidating my eyes were. I started walking menacingly towards him, fully aware that they weren't allowed to shoot what looked like a normal citizen. I stopped at less than a meter away from him.

"You think she's a freak do you?" My voice cold and threatening. "It doesn't look like that to me..."

And in one fast and fluid motion, his right eyeball had left its socket. I held the bloody eye in my hand while grinning evilly at the guy's shrieks of pain. Everyone looked at me with wide eyes. Boy were they shitting their pants.

"I think you should get your eyesight checked my friend!" I then proceeded in squishing the tiny ball in my fist before slashing at his throat with my claws.

The other soldiers started shouting in fear and opened fire. I jumped high in the air and landed so that I would be surrounded by them. My body started emanating a purple aura, the signal that the massacre was about to begin. I slashed, kicked, and punched. I kept on cutting them open, breaking their bones and occasionally shoot them with their own weapons. The many fountains of blood coming out of their body were no special sight to me, but I guess that they were shocking for the man in the suit and his lab coat donning assistant.

You are probably wondering, why was I killing innocent people?They were not! They helped Kakuzawa in keeping dicloni confined in that hellhole! They only saw dicloni as merciless monsters, when I knew that they could be more than that! My sister was the proof of that! These people were indirectly guilty of taking her away from me!

In less than five minutes all of them were on the ground. Lucky for me, my clothes were not dirty with blood. It would have been troublesome if someone were to spot me covered in body fluids.

"W-What are you?" asked the doctor.

I picked up a nearby rifle and pointed it at him. He started shaking in fear. When he gazed into my eyes, he was on the verge of tears.

"You..." Said the other guy. This made me turn to face him. He seemed shocked, as if he had seen a ghost.

"That power... That's Project Cherubim! Zale's power! How did you get your hands on that?"

I raised a single eyebrow at that. Soon I started laughing maniacally.

"So that's his name? Zale? I owe you my thanks! Now I know the name of the father that you and your men tortured!" When I finished talking I started glaring at him like never before.

"Father? Y-you are his son?" His shock only increased.

"The name is Alex. Know that I won't kill you. I want you to go back where you came from and tell that dog Kakuzawa that I'm coming for him." My eyes then rested on Nana who had passed out a long time ago."Also, that girl seems to depend on you... take good care of her."

I let go of the rifle and sprinted towards the woods. Now I had to make sure that the diclonius was alright.

It took me quite some time to find her. When I finally did, she was lying on the ground.

"Oi! You okay? You didn't kill them too brutally did you?"

She looked back at me with scared and teary eyes. Wait what? Scared and teary?

"Nyuu?" She shouted alarmed.

"Huh?"

"Nyuu, nyuu!" She took a few steps back. Was she scared of me? And what was this 'nyuu' business? I then noticed that I forgot to revert to my regular appearance and proceeded in doing so.

"There, is it better now? I don't want to hurt you."

She did look less scared now.

"I just want to look at your arm." I crouched and slowly moved towards her. She recoiled a bit at me touching her arm, but she still let me as if something was telling her to trust me. I then bandaged it with a piece of my shirt.

"That should do it. It's not much but it should do." I said with a smile.

The pink-haired girl examined her limb before looking back at me with a beaming smile.

"Nyuu!" She shouted and hugged me tightly.

"Hey easy there! You're squeezing me!" Well, unless this girl had an evil twin, at that point I was pretty sure that she suffered of some kind of split personality disorder. I pulled away from the hug.

"I'd better get you home. Do you know where that is?" Once again she smiled happily and started walking in what looked like some random direction. I sighed and started following her, hopefully she knew where she was headed.

After a while, a pretty big inn could be seen in the distance. We met a girl with short brown hair and brown eyes. The, now innocent, diclonius immediately ran towards her and hugged her.

"Oh Nyu! Did you get lost?" She said. The girl's name was Nyu? What kind of name is that?

"I found her in the woods, she seemed hurt so I thought about accompanying her. Not very talkative is she?" I smiled at her.

"Yeah she's like that. Thank you for helping her get here. We were getting pretty worried."

"Not a problem, glad I was of help." So the diclonius lived with other people? Were they aware of her other personality? Well it wasn't my problem now was it?

"I'll be on my way now." I said.

"Oh why don't you come with us? It's almost time for dinner and we would love to have you as a guest"

"Oh no, thank you. I really don't want to trouble you." I didn't have time for this. I had to keep searching for Kaede.

"Come on! You helped Nyu, so let me pay you back !"

"I really..."

"Nyuu nyuu!" I was interrupted by the pink-haired girl who promptly started clinging onto my arm.

"Well she seems to like you. I don't think you have a choice now." She said triumphantly.

I sighed in defeat. "Fine, I guess you win." It was just a dinner after all.

We started walking towards the inn.

"By the way, I'm Yuka."

I was about to present myself when I stopped. Alex. That was my name. A name filled with failures. The name of a person who constantly failed in protecting his sister and his friends. Was it right to hold on to such a name? No, I was about to start again. I needed a new identity to reflect my new determination. At that moment I could only think of one name.

"My name... is Zale."

**That was LOOOOONG! I did enjoy writing it though and I hope you enjoyed reading it! This is to makeup for the long way I had all of you suffer through!**


	13. A New Family

**So, are you guys ready to know more about Alex's... I mean Zale's adventures? Here is the new chapter ready! This one won't have much action but I can assure you that you will enjoy it! So let's get on with it! :)**

**CHAPTER 13: A NEW FAMILY**

The house was... big. Humongous to say the least. Sure, its hugeness was noticeable even from afar, but up close it was something entirely different. I was now standing in front of the gates and my mouth was agape. Yuka must have noticed because I heard her giggle.

"Yeah, it does that effect the first time you see it."

I recovered as quickly as possible, realizing how stupid I must have looked. Gee, so much for a good first impression. I followed the two girls inside.

"Welcome to Maple House!" said Yuka with a big proud grin.

"Wow... It sure is impressive"

"Nyuu!" shouted Nyu out of the blue. I had to suppress a chuckle at the random exclamation.

"Hmm, Kouta doesn't seem to be at home yet." I could sense a tinge of disappointment in her voice, but just a bit.

"Kouta?" I asked

"Oh yeah, he's my cousin. We both live here to attend university." She then looked at me and scowled a little. "Zale, you got dirt all over your body, what happened?"

I finally took a moment to look at myself and noticed that she was right. It was probably from the recent fight with the soldiers. How did I just come to notice that I was covered in dirt?

"Um yeah well.. I kinda... fell?" She didn't seem to mind my insecurity and smiled instead.

"Never mind, there's a bath right down the corridor. You could use some cleaning."

"Well... maybe you're right..."

Then suddenly Nyu, whose eyes had been glistening since Yuka pronounced the word 'bath', stood up and ran down the corridor... denuding herself in the process.

"Nyuu!" She shouted as she went on her way naked. Ready to jump in the water.

The crimson red blush on my face was extremely hard to hide. Yuka sweat dropped at that.

"D-does she do that... often?" The same guy who had just killed more than fifteen soldiers in cold blood was now pathetically stuttering.

"You have no idea. There's a shower upstairs, you might wanna use that."

"Y-yeah, I might."

After the embarrassment finally faded away, I was able to enjoy the shower. Enjoying was the right word, as it had been a long time since I had last enjoyed a proper cleaning. You know I was alone and broke, so finding the money for hot-springs was impossible. As I stepped out of the shower I noticed some fresh clothes nearby the door. I smiled as I put them on, Yuka was really trying hard to make me feel comfortable. They were probably her cousin's clothes. A nice fit.

Downstairs I was greeted by Yuka who was in the process of cooking something.

"Looks like it fits you perfectly. I washed your clothes, I'll give them back as soon as they dry up."

"Don't you think you're overdoing it? I mean, I just walked Nyu home..."

"We were pretty worried about her. Showing a bit of gratitude is the least I could do."

Just then I heard the main door sliding open, instinctively tensing up.

"Yuka? Nyu? Anybody home?" Said a male voice.

"That's Kouta!" She beamed and walked to the entrance to greet the newcomers.

I followed behind her. Might as well introduce myself no? After all, I should show some politeness of my own. At the entrance were standing a boy with raven hair and blue eyes along with a younger girl. She seemed familiar, where could I have met her?

"Welcome home" said Yuka.

"Yeah I'm home" he replied, then noticed me.

"Oh yeah, this is Zale. Just as I thought Nyu got lost. He helped her get back home so I invited him to stay over for dinner."

"'Sup" I said simply and proceeded in shaking hands with him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kouta. Thank you for helping Nyu out, we were extremely worried"

"Nah not a problem. Though I have to admit, she is a... peculiar girl." I didn't know if I was referring to her innocent personality or her more sadistic one.

"Yes well, most of the times she surprises us as well."

Suddenly, said girl came rushing from the corridor and hugged Kouta tightly.

"Nyuu!" She said loudly as usual.

"Hey Nyu, I was worried about you. Easy with the hugging!" The scene kinda reminded me of the tons of death hugs Kaede gave me. However, it wasn't the time for sad memories.

"Would you look at you two? Cuteness overload right there!" I said with a smirk.

"Yeah, she can exaggerate a bit when it comes to affection" he replied with an embarrassed smile.

"Um excuse me..." chipped in the young girl who was staring wide eyed at Nyu, who just smiled at her.

Wait a minute...Shit! She was the girl that got caught up in the battle between the two dicloni! If she were to say something...

"...I'm being rude. There is no way legs could fly off on their own."

Whew.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kouta. Well her comment had been very weird.

"Oh nothing at all, I just remembered a strange dream I had."

"Why don't we all go in? I just put some dinner on the table." said Yuka.

And so dinner was ready, for all five of us. Also, before we started eating I got to know that the young girl's name was Mayu. Thank god, she thought what happened was only a dream. However, she made me remember about Nyu's dangerous personality, which could make a comeback at any minute. Then again, if these people were okay with her then I shouldn't worry much. Then there was the dinner. I had to admit, Yuka's cooking wasn't bad at all.

"It's...good!" Mayu said

"Well thanks! You really think so?" Yuka was beaming with excitement from the compliment.

"The girl is right. Your cooking is very impressive Yuka!" I agreed.

"Oh, you guys are exaggerating..." She was starting to turn pink from the embarassment.

Kouta then took a sip and din not seem as delighted to taste the food.

"Seriously? I think it's alright... I've had much better when I was..." As he said those words I could see Yuka's expression morphing into one of pure anger. I acted quickly and wrapped an arm around his neck and covered his mouth.

"What he meant was... delicious! Your food is delicious! Right Kouta, my boy?" He tried saying something but it would be impossible for him to break free of my hold. I then proceeded in whispering something in his ear.

"Bro if anything is common to all women, it is how furious they become when you insult their cooking. Try and cooperate, I'm trying to help you after all." I then slowly released him.

"Uh...yeah! It really is tasty!" He said quickly, which resulted in Yuka's expression softening.

We both sighed in relief. I had a strange feeling though. Sitting there, talking, laughing, and that sort of staff. It made me feel as if I was part of something, something big. It made me feel like I had a family again. I think you know what did that make me think of, or rather who. My face grew gloomy and everyone else noticed.

"Zale, are you alright?" Asked Kouta. I looked up and saw that everyone was looking at me with worried expressions. Just then, I noticed that I was gripping my cup so hard that my knuckles turned white.

"Yeah... just thinking about stuff." I must have looked really sad when I said that.

"Nyu?" I then noticed that the pink haired girl was looking at me with really sad eyes.

"Aw come on! What is this a funeral? Lighten up people because no one died or anything!" My response succeeded in lightening the mood.

After a while, Yuka sent Nyu and Mayu to take a bath and started talking to us about how she thought Mayu was a runaway. Poor thing, no one deserves that kind of life. I would know.

"We gotta be careful because it's not like we can trust the police." Kouta said at some point while frowning.

That earned him a questioning look from both me and Yuka.

"Zale, I'm sure you noticed by now that Nyu has... well... a pair of..." he seemed uncertain of how to continue.

"Horns?" I inquired.

"Yeah..."

"Your point being?"

"You don't find that weird? Didn't you plan on telling people about her?"

I took a deep sight before answering.

"A long time ago, I told someone that appearance doesn't make you more or less human. It's the way you act that makes you who you are. No one deserves to be treated differently because of what he or she looks like. I still believe those words. When I look at Nyu I see a very energetic girl, nothing more, nothing less."

My little speech left them stunned for a few seconds before they smiled and nodded in agreement. Now that Kouta was certain he could trust me, he told us about a night when he was beaten unconscious by a group of armed soldiers who apparently tried to snatch Nyu away. Facility's dogs no doubt. I could only wonder the macabre things the 'other' Nyu must have done.

"So that's what happened. That's why you are always worried about Nyu." said Yuka.

"I didn't want you to worry about what happened to me the other night at the beach. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry."

After that they started gazing into each others' eyes and smiled. Their faces started to show a faint blush. It was so romantic. Too romantic.

"Hey hey hey! Oi stop that! Third person still in the room remember? Man you guys need a distraction..."

As if on cue, a completely naked Nyu slammed the doors open.

"Nyu!" She shouted happily.

We all looked at her wide-eyed.

"Distraction... is served" I said finally.

Yuka then dragged Nyu away, but not before shouting at me and Kouta for staring indecorously like that. Well we didn't do much, she was the one who seemed so proud of her nudity. Man, my day had been way to eventful for only twenty-four hours.

"Can this get any more complicated?" Kouta muttered.

"Not completely sure I can answer that right now" I replied.

We both took a deep sigh, but before we knew it we were both laughing.

"I'm sorry I doubted you Zale, you are actually pretty fun to be around."

"Same goes to you man" I said while grinning.

A few minutes later, Yuka walked back inside the living room.

"Mayu agreed to sleep here for the night" She said smiling.

"That is good to hear and I think I should be going, it got late." I stood up.

"Oh that's right, I never asked where do you live Zale?" She asked curiously.

"Just down this road actually." I replied casually.

"Just down this road? But that's... wait you don't live in that abandoned church do you?" She was in utter shock at the revelation.

Busted.

"Uh... well... I..."

"You don't have anywhere else to go?" Kouta asked also shocked.

"Well Mayu isn't the only one who lives on the streets. Difference being I've been doing so for the past seven years."

They both looked really sad. However, only moments later Yuka had a new bright idea.

"I guess that means we'll have one more person to sleep over!" Her tone firm and determined.

"Huh? Wait what?" I shouted.

"Not up to discussions! As I said to Mayu, if there is anything we have a ton of it's rooms!"

I looked at them with stupor. Here were two people that I just met and who knew nothing about what I really was, but still offered me shelter. The weird feeling was back and this time stronger. I had a family again? I was welcome somewhere again? It made me feel warm. It also made me wanna cry a little, but I held it back.

"Humph, I guess that I just can't argue with Yuka now can I?"

We all laughed at that.

"Follow me, I'll show you your room." Said the girl.

"Thank you... for everything."

**Done! And I must admit that this wasn't much fun to write :( oh well i'm certain the next one will be!**


	14. A Mind In Ruins

**Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I have been looking forward to this one :3 I think you guys will really like this! As a matter of fact, this is one of the first scenes that came up into my mind when I started writing this story. So here we go! I seriously think this is gonna be a long one... :D**

**CHAPTER 14: A MIND IN RUINS**

I must admit, I slept pretty damn well. Maybe it was because of the excessive excitement I had received the previous day, or maybe because it had been years since the last time I slept in a proper bed. Either way it was the best feeling ever! However, it was destined to end when Yuka rushed in my room.

"Zale! Zale! Wake up!" She shouted.

"What? What? I didn't do it!" I yelled half-asleep.

"Zale, Mayu is gone! She left a letter!" That woke me up.

"What?" I snatched the letter and read through it. She explained how she didn't want to be a burden to anyone and decided to just leave.

"Damn! We need to go search for her. Wake Kouta up." I said quickly.

After a while we were downstairs discussing the matter with Kouta.

"Poor Mayu..." He said. "Maybe she should move in here..." he said.

"Move in here?" Yuka said in disbelief.

"Why not? Admit it you're just as worried as I am. Besides you invited a guy to move in..." he said giving me a quick glance.

"T-that's different...I-I didn't... It's not like... Whatever! We need to find Mayu, so dress up we're going out!" She said storming off with a bright red face.

"Do you enjoy pissing her off?" I asked him flatly.

"As usual, I just don't get that girl..." He replied.

I sighed and grabbed my jacket.

"Well, tell Yuka I went ahead of you guys."

"Wouldn't it be better to search for her together?"

"I know the streets better than any of you, I can cover more ground than any of you. If I find her I'll let you know."

"Fine then" He agreed.

As soon as I was outside the inn and away from any unwanted attention, I leaped on top of a nearby roof and then jumped on the next one. I could definitely cover more ground in much less time. What was to be done, was checking every spot in the town that could house a runaway. However, even after hours of checking, Mayu wasn't in any of those places. Where could she be? It was starting to get dark and the dark clouds that were in the sky made it easy to tell that it was gonna rain.

"Where the hell did you go?" I said to myself through gritted teeth.

I checked a few more places, but she wasn't there. The rain had started to fall down mercilessly. What to do? Then I realized there was one more place I didn't check: a wood pile shelter on the beach. If she wasn't there then I really had no idea where she could be. I rushed there and thank god there she was. Crying.

"Mayu! Thank god you're alright! Why did you run off like that? Kouta and Yuka are worried sick."

She looked up at me with surprised eyes.

"Why are you here? Why did you come looking for me?"

"Don't be ridiculous..." Then I noticed something was missing: her dog. "Hey, where's Wanta? I don't see him anywhere."

Her eyes turned sad and depressed again.

"His real owner came and picked him up. Now I'm all alone again."

I looked at her with a sad expression. She reminded me so much of myself during my first years living with my uncle. Of course, that was before I grew strong enough to survive the streets. The days were hell.

"Mayu... I have to ask. Why did you runaway from your house?"

Again she looked up at me with confused eyes.

"You see, I also live on the streets. I've been doing so since I was eleven, but I got used to it much earlier."

"You did...?"

It was time to do some painful flashbacks.

"Yeah. My parents were both killed when I was very little. I was left with my uncle. He used to beat me for no good reason, every day. Heh, I still have some bruises to prove it. He would lock me out of the house with no food and I had to learn to feed myself. In the end he gave me away to an orphanage, where other kids would treat you like dirt. I ran way and lived on my own ever since."

She kept looking at me still sad and surprised.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was weak from all the crying.

"Humph, I can live with it."

A few moments of silence passed.

"My mother..." She started "She remarried some time ago... to a man w-who seemed alright at first. T-then h-he started..." She was shaking.

"Hey easy, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She continued her story nonetheless.

"He started doing things... He would ask me to take off my clothes and he would..." She started crying again.

Sexual abuse. People like that deserved to die the most cruel death ever. Poor Mayu having a stepfather like that... why didn't she tell her mother.

"And then, I tried telling my mom about it. About the things he did to me. All she did was blame me... blame me because he only looked at me... because I was there he would never pay attention to her... I never meant anything to my mother! I was always alone!" She screamed in tears.

What? Her mom was jealous of her getting abused? How could someone ever do that? How?

"What did I do to deserve this? What did I..." Her sentence was left unfinished as I hugged her as tightly as I could. I don't know why I did that, my body just moved by itself. She stopped crying from the surprise.

"Nothing, you did nothing wrong. There are people on earth who just think of themselves and feel nothing when they destroy someone's life. They make your life miserable for no apparent reason"

My mind raced back at the numerous individuals who kept on tormenting me and Kaede. This girl probably went through a very similar hell. How could humans be so heartless? For some apparent reason I found my self crying as well.

"Trust me, I would know. However, there are those who truly care for you, who wouldn't let any harm come to you. People like Yuka and Kouta. You are not alone Mayu. If you want, I can also be your friend. So you see, there is no need to cry."

I kinda felt ridiculous... an eighteen-year-old crying in front of a teenager. It couldn't be helped though. While surprised from my reaction, the girl ended up hugging me even tighter.

"Thank you." She uttered. That made me smile.

"Come on, let's get you home."

We soon found Kouta and Yuka, who were very glad to be reunited with the younger girl. That night, we celebrated Mayu's fourteenth birthday. Boy was she happy, just like everyone. Heck, even Nyu seemed overjoyed. Another big surprise was Wanta's return, he couldn't live without Mayu either.

The next night Kouta signed all the documents to put Mayu under his custody. Also, Mayu made me promise not to tell anyone of her mother and stepfather. It was incredible that she still cared for her mother after all she went through.

The days went by and it was time for everyone to start school. Yuka had the funny idea of signing Nyu in the school. Me, I had no intention whatsoever to go school.

"Okay Zale, we won't be away for long so try not to make too much damage okay?" Yuka asked me smiling.

"You'd better hurry up, or I'll flip this place over." I replied just as sarcastically.

"See you later then" said Kouta.

"Nyu!" shouted Nyu before giving me one of her best hugs.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'll miss you too Nyu." I said chuckling. Then they all left.

I was pondering what to do now that I was alone, since there wasn't much left to do in the house. I had enough sleeping, so the most logical thing to do was take a walk. Seeing the whole town again was supposed to give me a nostalgic feeling, but it just didn't. It was simply a constant reminder of what me and my sister had to go through. I constantly remembered how most people in this town would be cruel to anyone who looked different.

Then I thought about being on the look out for Kaede, so I roamed around a bit longer in the hopes of sensing a diclonius nearby. After sometime, I finally gave up. Kouta and the others were gonna be home soon anyways.

"Kaede... just where the hell are you?" I said to myself before heading back to the house.

I only needed to wait a little longer before I saw Yuka and Kouta come back. Weird, Nyu wasn't with them.

"Well hello there, fellas! How was the first day of school?" I said with a grin.

Just then, I took a better look at their faces. Saying they were depressed would have been the ultimate understatement. Their eyes were watery, had they been crying?

"Hey what's with the faces? Aw come on I know school sucks, but it couldn't be that bad can it? Oh and by the way, where is Nyu?" I asked.

Kouta wouldn't reply and, instead, strolled towards the living room.

"Man what's with him? Can't bear first day detentions?" I asked, kinda annoyed by his behavior."

"It's a long story. We'll keep it for dinner, when Mayu's here as well." Yuka said, while putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Okay..." I said half convinced.

During dinner, they explained how one of their professors had revealed to be Nyu's actual uncle. Believing Kouta and Yuka to be kidnappers, he kept the girl with him and forbid the two from seeing her. Poor Kouta, he was pretty attached to Nyu.

"Do you really think he was telling the truth?" asked Mayu.

The question kind of surprised Kouta and Yuka.

"Well maybe it's just me, but the family story sounds a little odd..." she continued.

"Aha!" I shouted "That's a smart girl! Good thinking Mayu, I completely agree with your opinion."

That made the raven haired girl giggle at my reaction.

"Anyways, jokes apart, the story just doesn't feel right." I said in a much more serious tone.

Everyone was silent in the room for sometime.

"Come to think of it, he was acting pretty strange." said Yuka "Like I said, everyone thinks professor Kakuzawa is pretty weird.

I froze in my seat at that moment.

Professor what? What was his name?

"Y-Yuka... What did you say... his name was? I didn't quite catch that." I said.

"Professor Kakuzawa, that's our teacher's name" she replied with confidence.

I heard right.

Kakuzawa.

The name of the person who made my life hell. He was here in Kamakura. So was I.

I darted up and grabbed my jacket, ignoring the many questions the other residents directed towards me. In a few seconds I was out of the house, running at full speed towards the local school.

That bastard was here! He was here! And I was ready to rip him to shreds!

I could feel a small diclonius presence, signifying that the real side of Nyu was desperately trying to awaken. I just needed to follow that in order to find the bastard. I ran as fast as I could, images of what I had to endure because of that man kept going through my mind. Revenge was near, so fucking near! I couldn't wait! I just couldn't wait to murder him! Before that I would ask him about Kaede's location, yes it was important to remember that. I could imagine the man's fearful expression as I closed in on him, his expression when he would recognize that I was Zale and Asuka's son! I was going to make him pay for everything!

I easily bypassed security and reached a door in the underground floor. The diclonius trace had disappeared, I needed to hurry. I slammed the door open and saw a middle aged man with jet black hair in the process of unbuttoning his shirt. My eyes instantly changed color and my fangs and claws appeared, also I performed my most terrifying glare possible. I immediately grabbed him and pinned him against the wall, lifting him up by the shirt.

"W-who are you?" he asked in utter fear.

"You... Is your name Kakuzawa?" My voice a growl.

"H-how did you get in here? Security should have stopped..."

"Answer me!" I roared.

"Y-yes! I'm professor Yu Kakuzawa!"

My eyes widened. It was him. I soon resumed glaring at him.

"So it is you! The monster that's been trapping dicloni and tortures them with gruesome experiments! Including my sister!" I was about to cut him in half.

"H-how do you..."

"I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully asshole!"

"No! You're mistaken! You're talking about Director Kakuzawa! I'm just his son!" He said in sheer terror.

I stared at him in angry confusion.

"Son? He has a son? Why should I believe you?"

"Think about it! If I were the head of an armed facility why would I take refuge in a simple school!"

He was lying. He had to be. Right? He was just making excuses! Was he? What he said made sense. Shit! There's no way, it had to be him! But it couldn't be. Fuck! He was useless! He was not the man I came to kill! He was just professor who happened to...

I suddenly remembered about something.

"Where is she?" I asked, still enraged because of the disappointment.

"Huh?"

"The girl! Where the fuck is Nyu?" I shouted.

"Right there" He pointed at an empty spot beside him.

"I-impossible" he said in shock. "She was right there!"

Just then, a figure suddenly emerged from behind a table. There stood Nyu, completely naked. However, her eyes were different: they were cold and menacing. I could feel her desire for blood just by looking at her. That definitely wasn't Nyu.

"L-Lucy... you were supposed to be asleep" The professor said, sweat was starting to appear on his face.

"The other one's asleep" her voice as cold as I remembered it to be. "I'm the one who's awake."

Her eyes then fell on me. I met them with a glare. I had no reason to, but at that moment I was just angry. Angry at the fact that being so close to knowing where my sister was had been just an illusion. Why? Why was fate being such a bitch with me?

I looked back at the professor. I still wanted to kill him, just to let loose my anger on something. I refrained from doing so, I was better than that.

I rudely let go of him.

"I think she will make you go through much more than I would anyways..." I said, still bearing my fangs at him.

I turned to leave, still feeling the girl's eyes on me.

"What makes you think, that I'll let you leave?" She asked in an emotionless tone.

I stopped in my tracks.

"You have two people in this room, one of them stripped you naked for God knows what purposes. If you want to waste your time on me, then go right ahead. However, I do believe the guy deserves death." I replied.

She gazed at the man in front of her. "We are in agreement."

Professor Kakuzawa started shaking in fear at that.

I got out of the door and proceeded out of the school, still avoiding security. After that I proceeded at a very slow pace. My mind was still lingering on how close I felt to unraveling Kaede's location. Here I was, with still no clue of where she was.

What did I endure this training for?

_I deserve to die!_

I remember her saying that. I was supposed to always be there for her right?

_Alex, you act like a true friend to me. Since you started talking to me I feel happier..._

Was I making her happier now? I didn't even know where she was. I didn't even know if she was alright.

_Alex can you be my brother?_

What kind of brother was I?

_You always come first big brother!_

I can't bear it.

_I'm not leaving you here!_

Stop.

_ALEX! What did you do to him? Alex wake up!_

I can't take this.

_Brother! Nii-san!_

ENOUGH!

"Gaaaaaaaaah!" I shouted at the top of my lungs at the myriad of flashbacks that were clashing inside my mind.

I sat on a nearby bench and did the only thing I could think of: I cried. As a matter of fact, I don't remember ever crying that much ever in my life. My mind was in ruins.

**Hmm. I was actually planning on this to be longer, but then it would end up being too long. Don't worry though, I wanna finish the next part as soon as possible! Man I fell in love with this story and Elfen Lied again :3 I think the next chapter might be even better than this one!**


	15. Heart to Heart with the Devil

**So here's the continuation! I wanted this to be a part of Chapter 14, but then it would have ended up being far too long :/ Oh well, the important thing is that it is here! And this time it's here early! So how's that people? Updates are fast enough now? ;)**

**CHAPTER 15: HEART TO HEART WITH THE DEVIL**

The night was getting chillier. I'm not completely sure about how much time I spent sitting on that bench. It sure felt like a while. Truth is, I really didn't feel like doing anything other than sitting there. The crying had stopped, but now I just felt numb. I could rot on that chair for all I cared about. Though, for some reason, I also wanted someone to sit there and talk to me. I wanted someone to talk to, but let's face it, there was no one. Kouta and the other people at the house were only aware of Nyu's horns and not of what came with them. Talking to them about my experiences with dicloni would make them think I'm nuts. There was simply no one who could understand what I went through in my life.

At that exact moment I felt a diclonius presence walking towards me and I tilted my head to see Nyu, or rather her sadistic version, walking towards me. She was wearing the same clothes she wore when she left for school.

"Oh fucking amazing... just what I needed right now." I whispered to myself.

The girl kept on walking until she was a meter away from me. She stopped to look at me for a few seconds, but I wouldn't look up at her. She then proceeded in resuming her walk.

"Something on your mind?" I asked her, causing her to stop in her tracks.

She stayed quiet for sometime.

"None of your business." She sounded as cold as ever.

More silence.

"Yup, I guess it ain't." My voice sounded just so monotone.

Silence again.

"So... do you wanna talk about it?" I asked again.

She turned around and looked at me with an 'are you shitting me?' face. I wouldn't know though, I was still staring at the ground, not looking at her.

"Well" I continued "I could use the company."

That and the fact that I wasn't looking at her in the face probably angered her.

"Company? Who do you take me for you foolish monkey?" She uttered.

A vector then protruded from her back and grabbed me by the neck, forcing me to look up. Her eyes widened when she saw my face. She must have noticed. Noticed how the flame of determination that was always vivid in my eyes was just gone. If it wasn't for the fact that I was still breathing, I probably looked just like a corpse. Every will to fight that was originally in me had left my body.

"Just end it why don't you? You'd probably be doing both of us a favor." I told her.

She frowned at that, surprised. After a few seconds the vector let go of my throat.

"Maybe some other time." She said. "First I've got a few things I need to ask you."

"Shoot"

"Why did you do what you did at the cemetery?" She was still frowning.

"That guy called you Lucy... is that you're name?" Hopefully she wouldn't mind the question.

"Some people call me that. Now answer the question." She repeated in a more demanding tone.

"Lucy, I told you before didn't I? I just wanted you to back off from the other girl. I never wanted your death, it would have been senseless." I stated matter-of-factually.

"It doesn't work like that. You seemed too well acquainted with dicloni. Also, no one would ever... protect... a killer for no apparent reason. There is more to it."

I sighed.

"I shielded you from those men because I'm aware of what they do to dicloni. I know about the horrors they make you go though. I don't think any diclonius deserves to go through that."

Her frown still wouldn't leave her face, so I sighed once more.

"Yes, I am well acquainted with dicloni" I continued. "That is because... someone very dear to me is a diclonius. She was taken from me some time ago."

Her hard expression faltered for a second, but it was back there in no time.

"Kakuzawa had her taken from me... because she was different. We tried running from them, but it didn't work. Now I'm sure she's somewhere around here and I still can't find her!She might need me and I have no idea where to look for her! Kakuzawa made our lives a living hell and I can't even get to him for that!" By the time I was done talking, I was shouting.

Lucy's expression had changed to one that seemed to understand what I went through, but she shook it off quickly.

"You think I'd ever pity you? You are no different from him. You are also a human and..."

"Stop calling me human!" I shouted at her, causing her to be surprised again. My appearance had once again changed to the more demon looking one. "That bastard changed my father into his own personal hell hound through genetic engineering! Even after he was able to escape, he got killed along with my mother! My dad's abilities were inherited by me. I was never human! Kakuzawa ruined my life!"

I stared at my hands for a few moments, before reverting to my more humane appearance. Now Lucy was looking at me with wide eyes. She finally understood what I had to go through. The diclonius then frowned again closed her eyes and sighed. She then sat down next to me on the bench. I gave her an incredulous look, but stopped as soon as she glared at me again.

"Kakuzawa also destroyed my life" she began "I was locked inside that facility for that man's sick ideals. I was forced to go through every horrible experimentation they could think of. The only thing that ever kept me going was the idea of ripping his head off." She stopped for a few moments. "And the fact that I needed to apologize to someone..." Her expression grew sad.

"Does it have to do with Kouta?" I asked flatly.

That one question earned me a look of surprise that then turned into yet another glare.

"Don't look at me like that, it was obvious. Well, Nyu makes it obvious. The way she acts around Kouta... she's overjoyed to be with him. So much... that it looks like she's afraid of losing him."

Her glare melted into back into surprise.

"Many years ago, I did something to him that he would never forgive me for." She looked down in shame.

After all this, I didn't see her as a dangerous diclonius anymore, just as a hurt girl who had been through too much.

"Well" I said standing up, my energies and determination were restored. "What you have to do is say sorry. That simple."

"He'd never forgive me... what's the point?" She was still looking down in shame.

"Ugh, you gotta pull yourself together!" I said taking her hand and making her stand up. "Look, I know for experience that giving up won't help you in any way. Life has this way of hitting you in the face... but you've got to keep going! We'll go find Kouta and you Missy will apologize. While I, on the other hand, will be right there behind you."

She was beyond baffled. I know the feeling. A complete stranger giving you a hand for no apparent reason... it can be very hard to believe.

"Well" I continued after I looked around. "It is pretty late, probably after midnight. We'd better rest for the night. Come on, I know just the place."

"Why?" she asked before I could start walking. "Why would you do this?"

I thought about it for a while.

"Because I don't want anyone to feel the same pain I do." I said firmly.

I think that was the first time she met someone like me. After all, I was a very peculiar being. I brought her to the old abandoned church, where we could rest for the night. It wasn't exactly a five star hotel, but neither of us complained. I slept in the usual spot, man it brought back memories! There was still something I had to do before sleeping however.

"Lucy, thank you"

"Hm? For what?"

"For talking to me back there." I replied flatly.

"Humph, stupid monkey..."

That was it. The next day, we got up and started searching for Kouta. We found him with Yuka on some stone steps next to a shrine. I looked at Lucy, only to notice how sad she looked.

"Kouta..." She muttered.

"No backing off now." I tried reassuring her.

Instead, she completely ignored me and walked the other way in an attempt to leave. I quickly stopped her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, c'mon. You can't leave now."

She merely used one of her vectors to shove my hand off. Luckily enough, Kouta had already noticed us.

"Nyu! Zale! There you are!" He shouted as he reached us.

"Hey bro, I found the girl." I said grinning.

"Glad nothing happened to either of you." He told me just as we were joined by Yuka. He then switched his attention to Nyu. "Where have you been all this time? I was so worried!" he said placing a hand on her shoulder as I had done a few seconds before.

He smiled when she stayed quiet.

"That's right, you can't answer even if asked right?" he told her.

Oh Kouta, you had no idea.

She quickly shoved his hand off of her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice donned its usual cold tone.

"You're talking now? When did this happen?" asked the boy, obviously surprised.

"She's acting a little strange isn't she?" interjected Yuka as she held Kouta's hand. "Maybe we should ..."

Before she could finish, Lucy pushed her down the stair with one of her vectors. All that just because they were holding hands? Jealousy is a bitch. As the dark haired youth checked on the girl, I gave the diclonius a look.

'Seriously?' I mouthed.

'Shut your mouth' She mouthed back.

Lucy then tried leaving again before Kouta ran back to her. I decided to watch everything from the sidelines, this was something she had to fix.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I remember everything now, which means I have to say goodbye."

"What are you saying? I know you don't have a home to go to!"

"I'll... make myself a new home... don't worry about me, you don't need me."

He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to face him.

"What are you saying? Maple house is your home right?" He tried his best to convince her.

She was kinda stunned by this.

"Oh Kouta you really don't remember?" Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks.

"What?"

"I don't have the right..." at this point she covered her face and burst into tears. "I don't deserve to be with you!"

"Don't deserve? Come on, what are you talking about?"

"Because... seven years ago...I... Kouta's..." She stuttered.

Kouta seemed visibly shaken for a moment. He put a hand to his chest, as if it was in pain and kept on looking at Nyu.

What was that? Seven years ago? That was when...

"Nyu?" I looked down to see that she had returned to her docile state. Talk about bad timings.

"Kouta!" She screamed and hugged him.

"Is she back to the way she was before?" Yuka chipped in.

"Looks like it" was Kouta's reply.

"Man, what was that all about?" I asked to feign my ignorance.

"Not sure..." was the boy's vague reply.

"Kouta!" Nyu suddenly called. "Kouta kado! Kouta kado!"

I guess she wanted to say hug...

"She's all yours tiger!" I said giving him a small punch on the shoulder, which I think hurt him a little.

He smiled and looked at Yuka for permission.

"All right, just once go ahead..." said the brunette quite irritated.

"You're quite the magnanimous woman" I teased her.

"Shut up."

The two then hugged in the most passionate way possible, which caused Nyu to shed a few more tears.

"Aw, isn't that my ideal definition of cute!" I said still grinning.

Of course that lasted until Yuka broke everything up by bashing Kouta's head for taking too long.

"Hahahaha man, Kouta you really do get the ladies to like you in your very own way!" I laughed.

Suddenly I felt something clutching at my body. I soon realized that it was in fact Nyu who was hugging me.

"Z...Zeir..." She muttered.

"Huh? What's that?" The hell was she trying to say?

"Z...Zeiru..." She tried again.

"Um, Nyu are you alright?" She was starting to worry me.

"Z-Zale!" She finally yelled happily. "Zale! Zale! Zale!" She kept looking at me and saying that.

I smiled at that. So that was what she was trying to say. She could say my name, that was a good feeling. Not sure why, but it definitely felt good.

"I'm happy to have you back too." I said patting her head. "And thanks again."

**There you go. It wasn't so bad now was it? :) Be on the look out for more!**


	16. Enemies Meet Again

**Right, so on with this chapter as well! Guys, I really wanted to say that your support has been very inspirational! You've seriously encouraged me with your many reviews! Many thanks to you all!**

**CHAPTER 16: ENEMIES MEET AGAIN**

I walked with my hands behind my head, lazily strolling outside the huge house. Beside me was my raven haired friend Kouta. He was carrying a bowl of food as it was time to feed Mayu's pet, Wanta. Every time my eyes fell on the small dog, I remembered about Kaede's puppy and his tragic fate. Whenever this happened I had to force my mind to ignore those memories. I had changed name for a reason after all: to forget about all of my past failures.

"Taking care of a dog sure is a big responsibility..." sighed Kouta.

"You know how Yuka gets if you don't help around the house..." I replied.

"True that." He said with a tone filled with resignation.

I smirked to myself. Kouta was seriously fun to be around. I mean, we shared a lot of thoughts about everything. While it wasn't the same thing as being with Kaede, it was very similar. I guess you could say he was my best friend.

"Wanta, here boy!" He shouted to attract the dog's attention.

However, the little thing was nowhere to be seen.

"Where could he be?" asked Kouta.

"I have a few ideas." I said to him.

"Nyuu!Nyuu!" We both heard someone shout in the distance.

"That one being my top idea." I concluded.

We turned around to see the girl run towards us with the dog next to her.

"Nyu, you took off Wanta's leash again didn't you?" Kouta asked Nyu.

"Nyuu!" was her energetic and cheerful reply.

I sighed heavily. "I'm gonna head back inside before Yuka starts shouting at me again."

Heading back inside, I walked my way to the kitchen were both Mayu and Yuka were cooking.

"Need a hand with anything ladies?" I said with a smile and a small bow.

The older girl smiled back and raised an eyebrow.

"You know how to cook Zale?" she asked me.

"Hey, I lived on my own for way too many years remember? One needs to pick up the basics if he hopes to survive." Not a single effort was made to conceal the pride in my voice.

Mayu giggled. "Well, there are a few things that you could help with then."

"I would be glad to help then!"

The day went by as normally as it could, with Kouta getting yelled at by Yuka as usual. Later through the evening I was about to give the finishing touches to the dinner, when I felt something very familiar. It was a diclonius presence. Was it Kaede?

"Yuka, take over for me will ya?" I said darting towards the exit.

"What? W-where are you going? It will be ready soon!" She said.

"Uh... I just remembered about something I have to do! Don't wait for me and just start eating!" I was outside before she could reply.

Not exactly a polite way to take my leave, but I couldn't risk it. I needed to check this new presence out. Unlike previous times, it felt as if I'd met this diclonius before. Could it really be Kaede this time? I ran at full speed towards the town, trying to get there as fast as I could. This time though, I was also determined in not letting my hopes up. It hurt me to much last time. What my legs brought me to was a small almost empty street.

"I'm sure you're here somewhere." I whispered to myself as my eyes looked around for a sign of life.

As a matter of fact there, a few meters away, was a small stand that sold sweets. I walked close enough to make out a bald vendor with a bandana who was yelling at a pink haired girl wearing a tattered black dress. There were also two elder females who stared at her with an expression that resembled disgust. The diclonius definitely looked familiar.

"If you don't have the money get out of here! Beat it kid!" The vendor shouted rudely, making the girl back off in fear.

Wait, I know that scared expression. I saw that face less than a week before!

Nana? What was she doing here? I had to wait before asking her. I quickly walked in front of the rude vendor and grabbed him by the shirt and pulling him close to my face.

"Customers need to be respected you know? Shouting like that is very rude. Also, you should know that shouting at little girls is something I don't take lightly. Remember that." I didn't need for my eyes to change color to put up a good enough glare to scare him.

I shoved him back, making him clumsily fall back in his stand.

"What's with that guy?" whispered one of the girls behind my back.

"So rude of him." whispered the other one.

I looked back at them and stared at them menacingly, causing them to flinch.

"Walk away" I whispered mockingly, but still loud enough for them to hear.

They complied without question, turning around and leaving at a fast pace. I looked back at the small diclonius with a smirk.

"What do we have here? Now this is a pleasant surprise." I told her.

"H-hey, you are that guy that showed me around!" She said, happy to see a familiar face.

"That's me alright! So what are you doing around here?"

"I was searching for something to eat, but I guess it's to late now. I'd better find a place to rest for the night." She said in a depressed tone, which caused me to sigh.

"I guess I'll walk you. Leaving you to wander around at this time wouldn't be safe anyways."

"Thank you." She said smiling.

"Oh by the way, I'm Zale." I introduced myself.

"My name is Nana." She said.

We walked around, not sure where to. I was pretty sure that Nana didn't have a place to sleep, but showing it would end up compromising me. In the end, we ended up walking to the same cemetery where she had her fight with Lucy. She started a small fire with something that was in her bag, but I didn't bother asking what it was.

"So you're planning on sleeping here?" I asked her.

"I got nowhere else to go." She replied sadly.

The way she answered made me want to ask her to come to Maple House with me. However, the thought of an angry Yuka pushed that desire back. Maybe I should think of more alternatives before acting. We spent a few minutes in silence, with our own different thoughts. The fact that she didn't ask anything about Lucy confirmed that she wasn't aware of me rescuing her. What a relief, didn't want to blow my cover.

"I think he abandoned me..." She murmured suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Papa abandoned me. My papa, the only person that cared for me." She buried her face in her arms. "I don't know what to do without him. I want to see Papa..."

That kind of made sense. She couldn't have ran away from the facility on her own, so that Kurama guy must have helped her get out. She thought that she abandoned him, but it was actually the opposite. Why would he do such a thing escaped my mind though. I wanted to comfort her, but I was stopped from a familiar barking noise. Was that Wanta?

Mayu appeared from the staircase. "Sorry, my dog doesn't usually bark but tonight he's... Zale?" She finished with a confused expression, one matching my own.

"Mayu? What the heck are you doing out now?"

"I was taking Wanta out for a long walk. What are you doing here?"

"Well... I wanted some fresh air and met this girl. She needed some help so here I am." I said pointing at Nana.

The human girl's eyes suddenly went wide in recognition. Oh crap! I forgot Mayu had witnessed Nana's fight with Lucy! Hopefully she would just discard it as a bad dream again. Then suddenly one of Nana's legs fell off. Not much of a shock to me, I just stared at the limb with no surprise. I mean, I had seen the girl getting chopped to pieces, so I knew she was carrying prosthetic limbs. Mayu on the other hand... fainted on the spot.

"Oh crap... Mayu!" I called for her as I crouched by her side.

"Hey are you alright?" Nana joined in once she had reattached her missing limb.

It took some time for the raven haired kid to wake up, but when she did we were both relieved.

"Oh thank goodness, you really worried us when you fell over and wouldn't wake up" said the young diclonius.

"If something happened to you I can't imagine what Yuka would put me through." I told her.

She stood up and smiled at the both of us then looked at Nana.

"Your leg... it moved by itself." She said.

"Oh yeah, it seems to happen when I'm not paying attention." Was her simple reply.

"It comes off? That's so strange." She said baffled by her answer.

"Oh I've seen stranger shit..." I whispered to myself.

"Um, those horns..." Mayu started before looking at me questioningly.

I nodded at her. She was aware that Nyu had the same horns coming out from her skull, all I could do was pretend that I did not know anything of such a similarity.

"Oh do they bother you?" Nana asked.

"That's not it." I interjected, earning a surprised look.

"Yeah, I think they are kind of cute." Mayu added.

She suddenly grabbed Mayu's hands.

"Really? For real?" She asked with excitement.

"Um yeah."

"Well, I always did find them cute myself." She said walking off with her hands behind her head and blushing slightly.

"Modest little girl are you?" I asked, which made her giggle even more.

Then she suddenly turned around. "Hey can you two be my friends? I lived my whole life in a facility. I know nothing of the outside world. I don't have a home or anything to eat. Having friends would make this a lot easier."

I cringed inside at the mention of that dreadful place, but did well to hide it. I grinned at her.

"Sure why not!" I said.

"If it would help you out then I don't see the problem." Mayu added.

"Really?" She asked again with watery eyes, earning a nod from both of us.

"Thank you!" She shouted as she hugged the both of us simultaneously.

After that we sat by the fire, listening to Nana going on and on about how happy she was to have friends for the first time. Then the fire started dying out.

"Oh no, the fire goes out so fast. These papers are really useless." Said the diclonius as she pulled out more of the things that she had been using to light the fire. For the first time I had the chance to take a good look at it.

"No stop! What are you doing? That's money, don't burn that!"

I kept on looking from the fire to Nana with wide eyes.

She burned money. Yup money.

Lots of money.

A fucking shitload of money!

I jumped up and put the fire out quickly before checking the ashes for any remains. All the time swearing as loudly as I could, which got the girls to look at me weird. The only thing that managed to calm me down was showing me the inside of Nana's bag. Still a shitload of money.

"Nana... why the hell do you have so much money on you?" I asked regaining my composure.

"When I left the facility Papa gave them to me. I wish I had five-hundred yen not these useless papers."

Mayu and I exchanged glances before sighing in exasperation.

"You don't know anything about money do you Nana?" said Mayu.

"Hey don't insult me! I know enough! I'm not dumb." She said seemingly offended.

Before I could say anything Mayu resumed speaking.

"Oh good, then you don't need me to tell you how dangerous it is to keep that much money in a bag right?"

"Huh? Dangerous?" Nana asked.

"Because when your asleep all that money will join together and attack you, but you know that. You know the magic spell that keeps them from coming alive right? Of course you do."

I watched as the other girl's expression morphed into full fear.

"I'm sorry please teach me the spell! I was lying when I said I knew about money!"

"Well it looks like we are even, because I lied about the spell." Mayu said with a smile.

I kept on looking at the human girl with wide eyes until she noticed me.

"What's wrong Zale?" She asked me.

"Mayu... you need to stop hanging around with me..." I said making her giggle.

What had my company done to this innocent little girl? Either way, we proceeded in explaining Nana how money worked, though it would take some time for her to get the whole concept. As we gathered the money that Nana had left all over the place, Mayu seemed to remember something.

"Oh wait, Nana!" Mayu called "There's a big man with a gun chasing Nyu, have you seen a man like that?"

"Big man with a gun? How come I didn't know about this Mayu?" I asked sternly.

"Sorry Zale, I meant to tell you later." She told me with embarrassment.

"Chasing Nyu? Who's that?" asked Nana confused.

"Remember the girl you met here the last time I saw you!" Mayu said.

"We met here?"

Oh no. I knew where that was going.

"Come on Mayu, didn't you tell me it was a bad dream?" I said desperately trying to change the argument, but it was too late.

"I see, Mayu was the voice that I heard." Nana recalled. "So that means this Nyu person... she is..." Her eyes widened in remembrance of the person that had brutally wounded her.

"She lives with us at the house I'm staying, she is probably there right now! She's just like you Nana, another girl with horns!" At this point the diclonius expression was filled with hatred.

"Mayu enough!" I said a little louder that I intended.

"Huh? Why, what's wrong?" How to explain to her? Nana would end up killing Nyu if she got the chance!

"I... I would like to meet this girl." Nana said suddenly and with determination.

Shit! How could I persuade her from doing so? This wasn't supposed to happen! Wait, Nyu's presence can't be sensed when she isn't aggressive, maybe that would discourage her! All I could do was go along with what Nana asked.

"Well if you really want to. Follow us Nana." I told her as I walked towards Maple house with Mayu.

We kept on walking until we reached Maple House. By then I could clearly see that Nana had lost a considerable amount of hope, as she still didn't sense any diclonius presence.

"Is this the place?" Nana asked me.

"Yup." I replied.

"It can't be, I can't sense Lucy. Nothing, I can't feel anything." She muttered in a low tone.

"Nana are you okay?" asked Mayu.

"This isn't the place. I was wrong." She said as she turned to leave.

Just then, the door slid open to reveal Kouta who started staring at Nana in disbelief.

"Um, I'm back..." Mayu said.

"Yeah... hi" I added.

"You..." Kouta just kept on staring at the pink haired girl. He then proceeded in grabbing her shoulders and shaking them vigorously. "Tell me why you have those horns on your head! Where did you come from? Who in the world are you?"

Seeing the aggressiveness he was showing, I quickly grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him back.

"Kouta, calm down will you? She's just a girl!" I tried calming him down.

He realized how rudely he had been acting, as his expression quickly grew apologetic.

"E-excuse me... I'm sorry..." He said.

He then turned around and gave me a nod. I smiled at him and let go of his shirt. I knew the boy was a good guy, just a very emotional one at that.

"We made friends with her when we were out. She wanted to meet Nyu." Mayu explained.

"Thinking about it, Nyu isn't the person I was looking for." Nana quickly told us before walking away.

"Wait Nana!" Mayu cried as she reached for her and accidentally ripped off part of her sleeve. "Oh I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized.

"Wait could you please stay just for a few minutes. I've got some questions for you." Kouta asked of her.

"Hey Kouta, I think she's hungry can we help her? We still have some leftovers from dinner right?" Mayu asked.

"You... you had dinner?" Nana asked with wide eyes.

"Why don't you come on in? I'll get a plate ready for you." The dark haired boy offered with a smile.

Nana complied. Now I was in for some shit. Nana wasn't supposed to meet Nyu! If she saw her the two could start fighting again and this time in the house! Fuck! I couldn't just tell Nana to leave!

I looked on as Kouta was unable to open the door as it had gotten stuck.

"What a huge house." Nana marveled.

"It used to be a traditional Japanese restaurant." Mayu explained.

"Restaurant?"

Before the diclonius could ask what a restaurant was, the door slid open to reveal a happy Nyu. It took less than a second for Nana to recognize that face. The face of the person that had tortured her a few days back. Her eyes filled with hate and rage.

She jumped at her with all her strength, vectors at the ready.

**Not really a big cliff hanger, but this chapter was getting too long anyways. Not really one of my best works I must admit, then again this was just simple bonding. Oh well I hope it was of you liking anyways.**


	17. The Whole Family

**So... we meet once again! And once again, I present you the newest chapter! Hmm, I wonder exactly how many chapters are left? Oh well I guess I'll find out by writing them! So for the moment let's concentrate on this one.**

**CHAPTER 17: THE WHOLE FAMILY**

Nana's attack was nothing short of fast and devastating. She used her vector to punch Nyu as hard as she possibly could. The older girl had been sent flying against the furniture. I wasn't ready for something like that and didn't manage to stop her in time. Fuck!

"Nyu!" Yuka hurried by her side to check on her.

I immidiately ran to put myself between the two. If a fight started there, the others might get hurt. I needed to do something.

"Nana calm down!" I yelled at the girl.

She wasn't minding me, she only glared at the person that she wanted dead. This was a completely different person from the one I met before. Ironic, now I was supposed to defend Lucy from Nana when I had previously done the opposite. I could see one of her vectors ready to grab Nyu. I had to stop her.

"Nana!" I shouted as I grabbed her shoulders tightly and glared into her eyes with my feral purple ones.

She faltered, as the sight of my new eyes made her momentarily forget about her opponent.

"Back off your vectors now." I whispered menacingly. After that I blinked, reverting my eyes to sapphire blue.

My threat caused her eyes to widen. I had revealed my knowledge about her species, but thankfully I had done so without involving anyone in this.

"Kouta!" Nyu yelled, but failed to stand up as she looked considerably weakened.

Her voice quickly reverted Nana to her angry self.

"I won't play your little games! You won't fool me like you did last time!" She shouted angrily.

After her outburst, Nyu seemed even weaker.

"Zale..." She called weakly before lowering her head.

I immidiately knelt next to her. "Nyu, what's wrong? You okay? Shit!" I shouted.

"Nyu! Is she alright?" Mayu asked quickly coming by my side.

"But why isn't she..." Nana started. I turned around and saw her confused expression.

"Hey!" Kouta caught the young girl's attention, before slapping her face hard.

"Oi Kouta!" I was still against people hitting girls even if she was acting like that.

"Don't you dare hit me!" She told him after having recovered from the initial shock.

"Then you'd better not touch my friend." He replied.

Mayu ran up to Kouta. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, it's my fault this happened! Kouta, I'm sorry!" She then burst into tears.

"But why..." Nana said in shock "Why all the tears? She is the bad one! Why is everyone taking Lucy's side?" She shouted.

Poor girl. I was the only one who understood her motives.

"She's the bad one not me!" She continued. "I'm good... Why doesn't anyone see that?... Can't you see?... I'm good." By this point she was also crying.

This girl... she could be so much like Kaede. I couldn't just sit there and watch as she cried. I walked towards her and knelt down, trying to make her look at me.

"Hey no one's pointing fingers okay? I just need you to calm down Nana." I said putting a hand on her head.

I had no success in comforting her. She didn't even look at me and probably didn't even hear me.

"Nyu? Can you hear me? Nyu? I think she's unconscious!" Yuka shouted.

"Nyu? Nyu! Wake up!" Kouta shouted as he rushed by her side.

"Oh no..." Mayu muttered worryingly.

Nana then ran off crying, not being able to take the current situation anymore.

"No Nana wait!" Mayu called and quickly ran after her.

"Nana! Mayu!" I shouted.

I was left there, unsure of what to do. On one side there was an injured Nyu and on the other a hurt girl who wondered off with another one following her. I put my hands in my hair in desperation. The situation had become so complicated so quickly.

"Fuck!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Why didn't I prevent this? I knew Nana wasn't supposed to meet the other girl. Why didn't I stop her from getting here? Also, the young diclonius wasn't even nearly as fast as I am, so why didn't I stop her from attacking? I didn't expect her to? That's one fucking pathetic excuse. I constantly failed as Alex, now I was failing as Zale as well!

No! I couldn't let that way of thinking get to my head! Now I had to decide what to do! Nyu was definitely the one that needed assistant the most and I could always follow Nana's presence to find out where she and Mayu had gone. Having decided on my course of action, I proceeded in helping Kouta and Yuka in placing Nyu in a futon.

"The fever is still there, what do we do?" asked a very worried Yuka.

"How did she get a fever from getting hit?" I asked her.

"I don't know, but she's really sick we have to take her to a hospital." She replied.

"It's... It's just too risky" Kouta said lowering his head.

Yeah, we all knew that. We knew how risky it was to get a girl with horns in a hospital. Just then, Nyu seemed to wake up. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry bro, Nyu is gonna make it through this. Of that I'm certain." I told him.

"Yeah, you're right Zale." He said with a smile.

"Look she's waking up!" Yuka said.

Suddenly, my head started stinging and I felt a chill down my spine. It wasn't Nyu who was awake, it was Lucy.

"Nyu! Are you okay? Do you recognize me?" Kouta said seriously worried about her.

"Kouta..." She replied weakly, but made him smile nonetheless.

She looked so feeble, so weak. The sight of the person she loved was probably the only thing that managed to give her some strength. Even if she was a killer, seeing her in such a state filled my heart with pity. It reminded me that she too was nothing but a girl.

"Nyu, are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" Kouta asked once again.

Lucy sat up and stared into space for a moment. Actually she glared. Yup, her old death glare was there again. The same stare she would usually direct towards me... oh the memories. She then quietly stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" the boy asked, but she just simply ignored him and walked outside the room.

I sighed heavily. "I'll go get her."

It took me little to no time to catch up with her. It did look like she found walking a challenge. How bad was this girl feeling.

"And where exactly are you headed?" I asked.

"My business." Cold as usual I see.

Her legs then failed her and she fell on the floor. I walked beside her and knelt to talk to her.

"Will you stop acting tough for one second? You need to get back to bed." I said placing a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy immediately shook it off. Typical.

"Don't fucking touch me, or I'll rip you to shreds." Impressive menacing tone for someone who could barely walk.

"Yeah Lucy the ill is gonna kill me. Right, I'm quivering with fear." I said.

For the first time she looked at me. If looks could kill. I countered her intensive glare with a raised eyebrow on my part.

"Look, you are definitely in no condition to move. Now I don't know what the fuck is going through your mind, but if there is any sanity in that head of yours then you know you need to head back to bed."

Before she had a chance to reply, we both heard footsteps coming in our direction.

"Where were you planning on running off to?" Kouta asked, as he walked next to us with Yuka.

"I'm going to teach that stupid girl a lesson." Lucy told him with determination.

"You're the one who's acting stupid. You are not going anywhere but right back to bed." He said.

She looked at him with glimmering ayes and with an innocent look I had only seen on Nyu "Kouta..."

My eyes shifted from one person to the other. From Lucy to Kouta and back.

"Oh yeah sure, when he says it then it's a great idea! Yeah okay, let's not listen to Zale the retard am I right?" I said.

They both looked at me with a weird look. Two seconds later, Yuka punched me on the head.

"Ow!" I yelled in obvious pain.

"You can definitely act like a retard sometimes." She told me through gritted teeth.

After that little scene, we proceeded in moving Lucy back to bed. We stayed there for a while, hoping that her temperature would drop, but it just didn't.

"Okay, I'll go get some medicine." Yuka said at some point as she got ready to leave.

"Try to at least find something for her fever." Kouta told her.

"I'll do what I can. Take good care of her." She replied.

Before leaving she took a good look at both me and the sick girl.

"Nyu you make sure you keep your hands off of things while I'm gone. That goes for you too Zale."

We both narrowed her eyes at that remark. 'Keep your hands off of things'. Who was she my mother or something? Bah whatever. Anyways, we sat next to her for a while longer. Lucy kept on looking at Kouta and he kept on looking at her.

"I'll stay right next to you all night. You don't have anything to worry about." He told her and made her visibly blush.

"Yeah, sorry no can do. I ain't gonna sitting here looking at you guys staring at each other like that for a moment longer. Either way I got to look for Mayu." I told them flatly.

Quickly grabbing a jacket, I got ready to leave. However., I stopped and walked next to Kouta.

"Oh yeah, I'm leaving you two alone in a room so do me a favor will you?" I told them.

After that I punched Kouta's arm lightly and winked at Lucy.

"Play nice."

The boy blushed visibly, while the diclonius was glaring daggers at me. Her face was as red as a strawberry though. Priceless. Before they could say anything, I rushed outside the house. I never lost track of Nana's presence so I knew she was heading back to the house. What I didn't expect was to find her right outside the door, along with Mayu. They seemed surprised to see me, then again who wouldn't.

"And what exactly are you two up to?" I questioned them.

Nana's expression grew serious after I asked that.

"That girl... she's definitely Lucy. There is no mistaking it." She told me with determination.

"Really genius? What gave her away? The fact that her presence feels exactly the same? Um hadn't thought of that." Sarcasm, what would I do without it?

Her eyes seemed to slightly widen for a second.

"First you see my vectors and now you can sense her presence? Who...What are you?" She asked me raising her voice slightly.

Instead of answering her right away, I glanced at Mayu. The little girl was staring at me with a very confused expression.

"Aw man, I was hoping not to get anyone else involved with this. Just make sure not to tell the others okay?" I told them.

No response. Just simple staring from both of the girls. Well it was gonna happen anyways. So I started explaining them my origins and everything else. I went from what happened to my father to life with my uncle. From living in the orphanage and meeting Kaede to running away with her. From losing her to Kakuzawa to my years of solitude and finally to my return. I told them everything except my real name. It took a good thirty minutes or so.

"So you see, I'm the closest thing to a devil and I'm after two things: my sister and revenge." as I said that I proceeded in changing to my more menacing appearance. I made sure they took a good look at claws, fangs, eyes, and even aura. Mayu covered her mouth in fear and Nana faltered for a second.

It took them a few seconds for the shock to disappear.

"Zale... I had no idea. I'm sorry..." Mayu said tentatively. I guess she was still kinda scared from my previously menacing look.

"Yeah... I am too. Just don't tell either Yuka or Kouta." I said looking away with a sad smile.

Even Nana felt sad. Well my story wasn't exactly a fairy tale so I couldn't blame her. Right then the door suddenly opened to reveal Lucy, glaring at Nana.

"I thought so. It is you." Nana finally said.

"You just can't sit still can you?" I told Lucy, who stoically ignored me as always.

The two glared at each other for quite a while. It was up to Mayu to break the silence.

"Hi Nyu, what's up?" she asked as friendly as she could.

In response, the older girl used one of her vectors to push her. In a second, I was behind her and grabbed her before she could hit the pavement.

"She didn't do anything! Don't hurt her!" Nana shouted.

"She's got a point you know." I said flatly.

Lucy scoffed in response.

"Did you come for a rematch? There's not much left to cut off is there?" She said to the younger diclonius with a smirk.

This angered Nana, who in response, jumped at her and hit her with one of her vectors sending her against a wall. Lucy's incapability to react surprised her and me. Her fever must have been quite something. Either way, the noise they were making was probably going to alert Kouta and Yuka, who should have been back by now.

"Is that the best you can do? How do you plan to kill me if that's all you've got?" Lucy said as she got up and readied all four of her vectors.

Nana charged towards her, ready to strike. That was it time to interfere. It was gonna be a piece of cake, Nana was probably not at my level and Lucy was too sick to counterattack. Stopping the both of them without killing them was going to be simple, so I sprinted in their direction. There was one thin that I didn't see coming however. That was Mayu hugging Lucy and getting caught in the cross fire. That stopped all three of us.

"Mayu!" I shouted.

"You can't... keep doing... these things..." she replied weakly, well at least she was alright.

"That was so close." Nana said with relief.

"What is this? What are you doing?" said a very surprised Lucy.

"See Nyu, you can stop if you want to." the human girl told her.

Her statement seemed to make her gasp a little, but a few seconds later she shoved her off of her.

"This fight isn't over."

"It never will be." said Nana.

"Not if I've got something to say about it." I said as I put myself in between the two.

It shocked them both. Boy was I good at making people surprised at my actions.

"Zale..." said the younger girl, unable to continue.

"Why can't you ever mind your own business?" That would be Lucy.

"Cut the business crap! I'm so fucking sick of it! I ain't moving from this one spot! Come on you two, go ahead try and go at each other, I fucking dare you." I said quite loudly.

The outburst made everyone recoil for a second. Lucy recovered quickly though.

"Well then I'll take you on as well." She said though gritted teeth.

"Oh I never said I wasn't allowed to beat you up in order to stop you." I told her.

Yes I know, what mattered the most was her well-being and all that. I wasn't really planning on hurting her. However, her stubbornness was getting on my nerves. Mayu jumped in once again and stood in front of Lucy.

"Nyu stop! No more stop it!" She shouted.

It looked like that hit her hard inside. Those words seemed to make her remember about something and suddenly, she crouched on the floor, started clutching at her head and groaned loudly in pain. Shit, what the fuck had just happened? Forgetting what had just transpired, I immidiately ran to her side.

"Hey what's wrong? What happened?" I said putting hand on her back.

"Kouta... I lost you..." I heard her mutter.

"You didn't lose him, he's right here! You hear me? Kouta is right here!" I tried to make her listen.

Suddenly, I also got a flashback. Back when Kaede and I went to the festival and she ended up lying on the floor talking to herself. I was trying to calm her down the same way I was with Lucy. The memories and feelings of that day all swept him and caused me to flinch. Remembering was painful, on that I could agree with Lucy. Seconds later, Kouta and Yuka rushed outside.

"Nyu what are you doing out here? You scared us!" Kouta asked kneeling next to her.

"Be careful..." Nana tried to warn him.

"Kouta..." murmured the diclonius, in a voice void of any coldness.

Nyu was back... and she was crying.

"Kouta! You're so nice! You're so nice! Kouta!" She started screaming as she hugged him.

I sat back on the ground, finally having the chance to relax. Man the day had been simply a pain. A huge pain. Looking after everyone at the same time was just way too demanding. Especially when two of them were trying to kill each other! While he was hugging Nyu, Kouta looked at me and smiled.

"Thanks for looking after her Zale." He told me.

"No problem bro... but don't expect me to do that again. This girl can't stay still for a second."

After a few moments of silence, Nyu glanced up from Kouta's shoulder and looked at me. I winked at her reassuringly. After that, she started concentrating on hugging the boy again.

Yup I would definitely never do that again, but I guess I just wanted look after... the whole family.

**It is 4:50 am and I am going to sleep! Man I am so unbelievably tired! I swear these fast updates are killing me! Oh well, it had to be done. Do me a small favor and don't forget to review please!**


	18. Calm Before the Storm

**Whew, who knew college could be such a drag… oh well I'm here now! I thought I really needed to update since I missed the story's 2nd anniversary.**

**IMPORTANT: Indeed, I felt so sad that I decided to give you guys a special present to celebrate this wonderful anniversary: I'm finishing the WHOLE story today! Yes, I'm updating all the remaining chapters at once!**

**CHAPTER 18: CALM BEFORE THE STORM**

I was gazing outside a window as I went through all the events and stress of a while before. Had Lucy and Nana actually fought for long, then who knows what would have happened to the house. Thankfully there was no need to intervene physically; I was not interested in hurting either one of them. While dangerous on the surface, they were just tortured souls. I knew that better than anyone else.

Kouta had allowed the young diclonius to stay after Mayu told him she was a friend of hers. The boy had a lot of questions for her anyway. They were currently having dinner in the nearby room. I wasn't particularly hungry at that moment. Must have been the adrenaline rush or something.

"Zale?" A voice called from behind me.

I turned around to see Mayu, the young girl who now knew my real identity. She was wearing her pajama and had discarded her shredded clothing. I was not so sure that telling her and Nana about it was such a great idea, but it was too late to regret that now.

"Are you alright?" She asked me.

"Yeah, just shaking the tension off."

"Oh ok…" She lowered her gaze.

A few moments of really awkward silence passed. Something was definitely on her mind.

"It must have been rough. Living like that, I mean." Mayu finally said to me.

"It wasn't pretty but I was determined, and I still am. She is out there somewhere and I will find her no matter what." My eyes hardened on the window.

"You really miss you sister. Does that mean… you will have to leave us?" She said in a weak tone.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I turned around and faced her.

"It's just… you can't find her by staying here, so I know you should leave… b-but I don't want you to. I'm starting to feel like you're a part of this family a-and…"

Before she could finish her sentence I placed my hand on her head.

"I do too Mayu. I will do whatever it takes to find Kaede, but there is no way I'm leaving any of you alone… ever." I told her with a smile.

The little girl looked surprised for a second, before she smiled back and hugged me tightly. Boy did that bring memories back. It wasn't a lie; I was going to save Kaede so I and she could live together at the house. All of us would live as one big family.

"Now, how about we go join the others for dinner?" I asked and received a nod from her. "Go ahead; I'll be there in a second."

I watched her disappear into the other room before turning serious once again. I looked at my hands and watched my nails become claws. Of course all of those happy thoughts would only follow the moment where I mutilated Kakuzawa's body. I had seen what he had done not only to my sibling, but also to Nana and Lucy. As the days passed I hated him more and more. After calming down, I started walking towards the room too. Just in time to hear the commotion.

"I'm not staying with people who treat me like I did something wrong!" That was Nana yelling.

"What are you talking about? You are the one who attacked Nyu for absolutely no reason!" Kouta yelled back.

"I have a reason!" Nana shouted.

"Aren't you all such cute rays of sunshine…" I sighed in exasperation.

Nyu then immediately offered her bowl of rice to the confused younger diclonius.

"Well at least one of you is." I concluded with a smirk.

"Is that for me?" Nana asked.

"She heard Mayu say that Nana gets grumpy when she's hungry and she is trying to make it better." Yuka explained with a smile.

"Wow I didn't know you got upset without food." I teased.

"I don't!" The girl promptly shouted back at me.

"Well you can have my bowl too if you want to." Yuka offered.

Seeing so many people act nice to her, Nana decided to stand up and formally apologized to Nyu. She went as far as to bowing to her. It warmed everyone else's heart, especially Mayu's. The dark haired female was really concerned about her newly found friend. Well she wasn't the only one. It did surprise me that just a few days back I had seen those girls try to kill each other. It made me glad to see them interacting so peacefully.

The next day Nana spent a lot of time hanging around Mayu as she introduced her to new things, ice cream being one of them. I went downstairs to check on the rest of the gang and found Kouta and Nyu trying to fix the old clock. Keyword: trying.

"Nyu, what are you doing? No you completely disassembled it!" He told her as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What exactly are you two doing?" A yawn escaped my mouth as I asked. Even as a kid I wasn't a morning person, so imagine now.

"Nyuu!" The young girl turned around and gave me a brilliant smile.

"I was hoping Nyu could help me fix this old thing but…" Kouta started explaining to me.

"…It didn't turn out quite right did it?" I finished for him and received a nod in response.

We noticed Nana and Mayu spying on what we were doing, which caused my dark-haired friend to grow serious again.

"Nana, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked her as she faltered when hearing her name.

Kouta then gave me a look that made me understand he wanted to talk to her alone.

"I guess I'll help Nyu put the clock back together." I said with a shrug. "Mayu, do you feel like helping?"

"Sure." She replied as she came over.

I watched Kouta and Nana walk away before I turned to the two other girls left with me. "Alright team, let's get this repair mission started!" My voice was as cheerful as ever.

"Nyuu!" The pink-haired female shouted in excitement.

"One would think you are the most mature one out of the three…" I heard Yuka say with a laugh as she headed for the room where Kouta and Nana were.

"Shush woman, you cannot possibly comprehend the importance of our assignment!" I told her with a grin.

That made her laugh heartily, which made me smile in return. It was always a good sound to hear, that one of a person laughing, especially in these hard times.

"Well then I'll leave you to your business. Sorry for interrupting you 'Team Zale'". With that said, she left.

Well, our work wasn't exactly commendable. Mostly it was because none of us had any idea of how to fix a clock, especially Nyu. Yet, the girl was the one handling most of the job which made me and Mayu kind of doubtful on what the final outcome was going to be. At some point, I started considering the possibility of it exploding.

"I don't know if this is going to work." Mayu said timidly.

"Trust me you're not the only one…" I said with doubt in my voice.

At that, Nyu turned around to look at me with a frown.

"Not that I doubt the handy work of our trusted engineer of course!" My hands rose quickly in front of me in an attempt to calm the girl down. It seemed to work as she beamed and went back to messing with the old thing.

In a few more minutes we were done and the clock seemed back to its original shape.

"I think everything's back where it's supposed to go." Mayu said.

Exactly three seconds later the darn thing fell to pieces, turning in an even bigger mess than it originally was.

"Or not…" Saying disappointment was what I was feeling was saying the least. There wasn't much time to be sad though as all three of us heard Nana's cry coming from the room nearby.

We walked there to check what was going on. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been Kouta's fault. That boy had a gift for saying the wrong thing at the worst possible moment. What we found was Nana weeping on Yuka's shoulder.

"If Kouta said anything bad, don't worry he does that." I told her honestly.

"Hey!" The boy protested.

"I'm just stating a personal opinion here." I sneered.

"I was so scared… of being alone again…" Nana said through sobs.

Oh so that's what it was. Close enough I guess. Kouta then place his hand on Nana's head, causing the little girl to cry even louder. Of course it was from happiness, happiness caused from being accepted by people. Deep down, that was what all diclonii craved for: acceptance.

Later that afternoon, Mayu was showing Nana how to do a few simple things. She even tasked her with the duty of taking care of Wanta's meals. The human girl also introduced her to the concept of a bath along with many other things. It was nice to see her adapt like that. At some point I finally got the chance to talk to her by myself.

"Looks like you are having fun around here." I told her.

"Mm-hm, I like it a lot here!" Her voice was as cheerful as ever.

"Great, looks like bringing you here really was a good idea after all."

"Yes, thank you Zale really."

"Don't mention it, as long as you are doing then fine I'm happy too." No lies there.

"But… you do know this doesn't change anything with Lu… I mean Nyu, right?" She said in all seriousness, causing me to sigh.

"Sadly I do, but given time, I'm sure you will also realize that she is not a bad person… either side of her isn't." I concluded. Though one side of her did need a good reading of 'Anger Management 101'

"I hope you're right."

Who could blame her? She was forced to live the rest of her life with prosthetic limbs because of Lucy. However, I was sure that one day the two would come to an understanding, probably one very far away day, but that's beyond the point.

"Hey Nana!" Kouta said coming into the room with Mayu and Nyu. "Mayu told me you are in charge of Wanta's meals now."

"Yes, there isn't much I can do, but I already asked Mayu to show me everything." She replied energetically.

"Sounds good to me. All that we ask of you is that you do whatever you can around here." He told her.

That made smile and blush slightly. It only lasted for a moment though.

"So who's that girl over there?" Nana said pointing at a picture. When Kouta saw where she was pointing he grew sad.

"My little sister, she passed away." That line made me jump slightly. "Before she did, I said something really mean to her. I don't remember what exactly, but I've always regretted it. No matter how badly I want to apologize, I think I missed my chance… Kanae is gone."

My eyes were wide. I had no idea of any of this. This boy was so similar to me. He lost his sister and felt regret for failing her. The only difference was that Kaede was still alive. Was she? No! I could not afford to think like that. Instead, I thought about saying something nice to Kouta. However Nyu, who was visibly more upset than I was, beat me to it.

"No, no, no!" She said as tears shimmered down her cheeks. "Don't cry Kouta!"

I didn't know what was more surprising, her crying or how coherent her sentence was.

"Please don't cry Kouta!" She continued as she grabbed hold of his arm.

"Nyu I'm not crying." The boy replied confused.

However, the sight of the girl's picture seemed to upset Nyu more and more by the second. Then I felt it. That chill down my spine, that killer instinct that filled the air every time Lucy awakened. It was faint, weak even, but it was there.

I and Nana immediately grew rigid.

"What's wrong?" Mayu asked noticing how tense we were.

"Zale… did you…?" Nana started, just as the feeling suddenly disappeared.

"Yes, I felt that. I definitely felt that, but just for a second."

Then, Nyu suddenly grabbed a nearby pair of scissors and rushed outside. Kouta followed in hot pursuit, but alas the girl was gone.

"I have no idea where she went." Kouta told as he came back.

"I'll go check upstairs." Mayu said.

"We'll help too." I told him, speaking for Nana as well.

We all searched for a good five minutes, but we couldn't find the girl. At some point, the search led me, Mayu, and Nana to the garden. There we witnessed the sight of Nyu standing in front of Kouta, her hair was cut short and the scissors lay next to her on the grass floor.

"I'm not Nyu." She then walked in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm Kanae, I forgive you, I forgive you Kouta!"

"Nyu wants to be his little sister." I said with a smile.

"Yup, that way she can forgive Kouta and make him feel better." Mayu agreed with me.

"You weren't wrong guys." Nana told us. "She really is a nice person."

I looked back at them seeing Nyu's eyes beginning to water again. Usually this is followed by romantic scene, something I was not eager to watch.

"Right this is the part where you, innocent children, and I, glowing gold third wheel, get back into the house." That was followed by me pushing them back inside.

Kouta needed his time alone with Nyu. Funny, how did I know all those things about guys and girls when I had never been in a relationship myself? Oh well, I guess some people are just born talented. Back inside, I passed by the picture of Kanae. She was a lovely child, who seemed to radiate with happiness. She seemed familiar somehow; she brought me back to the terrible day of the festival for some reason. As I had many times in the past few days, I thought of my own little sister.

_No matter how badly I want to apologize, I think missed my chance…._

Kouta's sad words were still fresh inside my head.

_Kanae is gone._

I could no longer wait. I needed to act, I needed to find Kaede. However, I couldn't just disappear like Nyu did. Not to mention, just the day before I had promised Mayu I wouldn't leave them. I tried to think about other solutions, but found none. It was very sad to leave these few calm days behind, though deep down I knew it was time to bring the fight to Kakuzawa. It was time to bring Hell's judgment on the false god.

**So how did you guys like that? Also, how does it feel to not have to wait for the next chapter? Hahahaha am I not just so awesome?... Don't answer that… review instead!**


	19. The Monster on the Bridge

**Here's the next chapter! Sure hope you guys are enjoying this continuous read that leads up to the conclusion of this tale! Also, I got to admit it feels weird to write so many chapters in one document.**

**CHAPTER 19: THE MONSTER ON THE BRIDGE**

It was time. I needed to leave if I wanted to save my own sibling. Of course, the prospective of going away was not to my liking. While confident on the surface, I couldn't define myself as such on the inside. The idea of not coming back did scare me a little. However, I needed to do this and was fully aware of it.

I went downstairs and was about to leave from the front door when I noticed Mayu and Nana sitting outside. Crap! What are they doing there? No one was supposed to notice me leaving! I started eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I'm in charge of your meals from now on, so you'd better eat a lot!' Nana said excitedly as she gave Wanta his meal.

"Um, that's much more than he's supposed to have…" Mayu said.

Oh great, the dog got in my way. Very good job Mr. Avenger; you got stopped by a miniature canine. Thank you Wanta, you just had to get hungry at this exact moment right? Stupid dog, it figures that my bad luck had to strike at the most inopportune second.

I sat there rumbling and complaining to myself for a few moments. What? I was very hard on myself when it came to success! Is that a crime?

A second later though, I had to interrupt my rumbling. Something terrifying was in the air, something powerful, cold, and murderous. Lucy? No this was much worse. It didn't send chills down my spine; I literally shivered for a second.

"W-who the hell is that?" I muttered to myself in sheer terror.

I never felt like this in my life. I wasn't just scared, I was terrified. This diclonius… who was she? She seemed to be a few kilometers away, but her need to kill was so clear and strong.

"S-she's come to kill me!" Nana yelled in panic.

She surely felt it too and was having my same reaction.

"What?" Mayu asked.

"She's like me, a diclonius… but very very vicious!" Her voice was trembling.

Seconds later, Nana rushed inside. She ran past me, terrified. I should have said something to her, but was unable to move. What the fuck was going on?! Where did she come from? Why was she here so suddenly? Why the hell was I so damn scared of a girl?

"Nana! Zale help me calm her down, I don't know what got into her!" As soon as Mayu addressed me, I snapped back to reality, although I was still shaking a little.

"S-sure…" I couldn't say anything else. Was that what pure fear felt like?

The little diclonius had curled into a ball next to the corner of a room. She was still visibly shaking. Mayu knelt next to her and tried her best to comfort her, but Nana only seemed to get more and more frantic by the second. I should have said something, but I was still recuperating from the experience myself. Kouta came in and asked Mayu if she'd seen Yuka.

"She said she was going to get noodles, but she's been gone a while." The boy said. "We thought Nana would like to try them."

At the mention of her name, the pink-haired girl rose to her feet. Her eyes were still wet, but this time they were determined as well. She was about to walk outside when Kouta called for her.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to take a walk."

Lies, she wanted to take that monster on alone. She was hoping of keeping her away from Maple House.

"Nana don't go!" Mayu said.

"Don't worry, I want to try noodles." Nana said with a smile before disappearing.

Of course I was there for the whole conversation. However, I could not bring myself to do anything. I was overcome with emotions. Scared of what I had felt, angry at me being paralyzed, worried for Nana, and thoughtful about the idea of having to fight more monsters to get to Kaede. So many things were going through my mind I couldn't think straight. I wanted to follow Nana but I couldn't.

At some point, both Mayu and Kouta had left. I had been sitting there for at least ten minutes.

'Move you idiot! Nana, you need to save Nana!' I told myself, but I wouldn't move. Nothing gave me the strength to.

_…thank you Zale, really._

The memory of that same day, seeing her happy in the house, made me click. Eyes flowing with aura, I launched myself outside. The presence was still there, but I ignored it. I was back and kicking and I had to save that poor girl. I used my augmented speed in order to reach there before it was too late.

As I ran I saw SAT blockades placed everywhere. It wasn't hard to figure out what was happening. There was however, one point where the soldiers were sprawled to the ground unconscious. The work of Nana, no doubt about that. I kept on running and running, concentrating solely on my goal.

I reached a bridge, where the presence seemed to come from, and was greeted by a bloody spectacle. Nana was hovering in the air, suspended by a pair of vectors. Her body was stripped naked and covered in blood, additionally one of her prosthetic legs was missing. At that moment, the vectors slammed the girl downwards, in an attempt to squash her to the ground.

I acted quickly and jumped a good ten meters, catching Nana before she could hit the ground. As soon as I landed, after laying Nana down, I stood and glared with my fool might to my target. I saw a crowd of stupefied humans, most of them were soldiers, but there were also a scientist and a woman. However, they were not my target. A little girl with pink hair was sitting on a wheel-chair. She was surely the source of the murderous presence.

I wasn't fooled by her innocent appearance, as I immediately noticed her vectors. They were thirty-five and all very long. What was this girl?

I quickly showed my fangs to the whole crowd in an attempt to scare them.

"You… You are that boy!" The scientist shouted at me. "You are the son of Project Cherubim!"

I recognized him as the same scientist from when I met Lucy.

"Oh hey doc, been a while hasn't it? Not tearing you apart did make me feel empty you know" I said with a sadistic grin, before concentrating back to the girl.

"Who is that guy?" She said with the most childish tone ever.

"Zale? Why did you come for me…?" Nana called weakly.

"I'm here Nana, don't worry. You stay down and rest, I'll handle her."

"Isobe, who is that boy?" I heard the woman ask.

"He is the surviving offspring of Project Cherubim, an enhancing experiment that Chief Kurama told me about. Watch out Shirakawa, he is as dangerous if not more than a diclonius."

"Oh you flatter me doc. I got it; maybe I'll just behead you. That way you suffer less." I said grinning maliciously again and making him jump a little.

"Hahaha, you're funny!" The little girl giggled.

I raised an eyebrow and then smiled warmly.

"Why thank you dear. The name is Zale, might I ask what is your name?"

"It's Mariko! Hahaha, you're really funny mister." She said.

Hey maybe she wasn't so bad, maybe I could reason with her.

"Hey, can I kill this funny man?" Mariko then asked the scientist.

Okay, scratch that.

"No, we are not here for him. Render him unconscious if you must, but he is still a civilian after all." The woman, Shirakawa, said.

"Oh, okay…" The little girl pouted disappointed.

At that moment I launched myself at her. To the normal eye it would look like I had teleported. My claws reached for her face but the blow was quickly parried by one of her vectors. Subsequently, she tried to hit me with two more of them. I was able to dash back in front of Nana and avoid the blow.

"You'll find me very hard to kill Mariko." I said with a smirk.

"This is fun! Try again mister, try again!" She giggled to herself.

Once again, my body moved for the same attack, but from a different angle. After all, my movements were too fast to track; maybe I'd be able to surprise her. Sadly, she parried again. Another vector came out of nowhere, ready to punch me. I dashed back again, but the thing reached for me anyway. How could her range be so long? My arm and leg were raised in an attempt to cushion the blow. I was met with partial success, as I was able to not get injured but still flew a few meters back. Dust and dirt covered my face after the impact, but I remained serious and glared back at Mariko with my purple gaze.

How could I approach her? Her numerous vectors provided the perfect defense, while her range made up an awesome attack. I looked around for something I could use at my advantage.

Bingo.

Once again I ran towards the crowd, but I didn't reach for the girl this time. I grabbed Isobe and stood behind him, pressing my claws lightly against his neck.

"W-what are you…?" The fool said as soon as he realized what was going on.

"Okay people, nobody wants the poor doctor to get hurt right? This mission probably isn't worth one of your own guys right?" I said grinning evilly before glaring at the woman. "Shirakawa is it? Now what you are going to do is fly me back to wherever you came form so we can pay a visit to Mr. Kakuzawa. Don't try fighting back; you'd be surprised to know what else this 'civilian' can do."

She seemed surprised and angry at the same time. Most importantly she was considering my offer. I was killing two birds with one stone. This way, I was going to keep Nana and the others away from danger and I would get to that bastard. Checkmate motherfuckers.

"Mister, you are so boring." Mariko said disappointedly.

"Really now? Why is that Mariko?" I asked without taking my eyes off of Shirakawa.

"You are so much slower than I thought." She said with a sigh.

What? What did she mean by that? I suddenly noticed a light pressure on my ankle and looked down to notice one of her vectors was holding it.

"You… You caught me?" I asked in disbelief.

My speed was never a problem to her. I assumed she couldn't follow my movements but I was wrong.

She held a perfect defense, perfect offense, and an unmatchable speed. I never stood a chance against her.

Mariko smiled sadistically before lifting me in the air and smashing me on the ground a few feet away from her. I tried lifting myself up, but she pressed me back to the ground with at least 10 more of her vectors. Her next move was smashing me repeatedly on the hard concrete. I lasted for a while, but after she kept at it for a while I stopped fighting back. Mariko released her hold of me, but I just lay there and didn't move an inch.

"Aw and here I thought I was gonna have fun with you mister Zale. Oh well, guess I'll finish this."

She sent one of her vectors for my head and it was moving at an incredible speed. Before it could hit however, something else pulled me to the side. I was dragged back a good ten meters before realizing Nana had just saved my life.

"Nana…" I said weakly.

"Zale, are you okay?" She asked frantically.

"As okay as a guy that just his ass kicked could be." I replied sarcastically.

She reattached her missing leg with her vector and we both stood up weakly, ready for another attack.

"He is innocent, please don't hurt him!" Nana shouted at the crowd.

"W-what are you saying?" I asked after panting a little.

"They don't have to kill you. I don't want any of you to get hurt because of me." She said

I tried to reply vehemently, but was stopped by a throbbing pain in my ribs. That short fight had taken so much out of me. I looked at the group and it did look like Shirakawa was ready to talk to us instead. However Isobe mouthed something to Mariko's ear.

'…Kill number seven' I read his lips.

A number of vectors immediately shot our way. I was too weak to move, but Nana succeeded in pushing both of us out of the way. There was no time to rest however, as Mariko soon launched another attack. This time, she only had the time and strength to push me away. I watched Mariko slam her against the side of the bridge and keep her in place. She then slammed her twice more.

The railings couldn't hold such destructive force and soon collapsed.

Nana was falling down the bridge into the water.

Falling faster.

And faster.

"Nana! No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

What had this monster done?

**Liked it? If you did keep on reading. I hope you liked the action, coz I surely did! It was nice to write about a fight after so long! Don't go away now my friends, we are indeed nearing the climax!**


	20. Loss and Realization

**Hey guys, you probably noticed that my chapters aren't as long as they used to. Well, there are two reasons for that. First, I'm probably out of practice, second there parts of the story that need to be separated in order for it to flow smoothly. Other than that please do keep on enjoying your read please!**

**CHAPTER 20: LOSS AND REALISATION**

She just fell. She just fell from the bridge.

Not even a diclonius could survive that fall. Nana was…

No! She couldn't be! There was no way Nana was dead! There was no way in hell! And yet, the images kept on playing in my head. Constantly repeating, right in front of my eyes.

I saw the girl fall and scream for help.

Then again a second time.

And again a third time.

I saw her fall a fourth time, this time though it wasn't Nana falling. It was Kaede.

**"I'm going to fucking kill you!" **I screamed.

A huge amount of aura flowed from my body. Never had I been so angry n my life, not even when Aiko died. The aura kept on sprouting from me with such force that a strong wind started blowing throughout the bridge. Everyone placed their arms over their face in an attempt to fight back the air currents. My increasing aura was now casting off such a strong purple light that people from the town center could probably see it. I kept on screaming all the while.

My head kept on thinking about Nana falling and Mariko's smile as she threw her off the bridge. I instinctively raised my hand to the sky. All of a sudden the entire aura converged at a point above my hand. My feral and angry eyes were fixed on Mariko who seemed to be admiring the show instead of cowering like the rest. That only pissed me off even more.

Soon, the wind died down. A purple sphere, not bigger than a football, was hovering over my right palm, causing a small air current to still roar around me. I never was able to do such a thing before. My palm was then pointed towards Mariko.

"**Die!"** I shouted and the sphere flew towards the girl.

All the humans threw themselves on the ground preparing for impact. At that moment, Mariko seemed to realize how dangerous my attack was. She proceeded in wrapping all of her thirty-five vectors in a ball to protect her.

The moment my sphere collided with her invisible arms, a thundering boom was heard followed by the lifting of a huge dust cloud.

Energy projection, never knew I was capable of such a feature.

At that moment, my legs felt weak and I fell on my knees, blood pouring out of both, my nose and mouth. I had put all of myself in that attack, all of my energies. The smoke had not yet cleared, but I was anxious to see the result of my handy work. I wanted to see that little bitch's corpse splattered on the ground with blood sprouting from it. It was what she deserved.

I had to wait a few moments more before the smoke cleared. What I saw made my eyes widen in disbelief. Thirty-five vectors were lying on the ground, as if accusing the hit, but Mariko was sitting on her wheelchair unharmed.

She had survived.

"No…" I muttered weakly.

The other humans stood back up, them too completely fine.

"My arms… I can't move them!" Mariko started whimpering. "Why can't I move them?" She started crying.

The attack had not been a complete failure. Her vectors had been incapacitated, making Mariko defenseless. Sadly, at this point I didn't even have strength to stand.

"Such power…" Isobe muttered as a group of soldiers proceeded in taking Mariko away. "We can't let him run loose… soldiers take aim!"

I watched as a total of at least twenty rifles were pointed my way. Was this how it ended? Shot down by group of simple humans after a life filled with failures?

"Zale!" A familiar voice shouted. I spun around to see Kouta run my way.

"Stop!" Shirakawa shouted.

"How did that kid break the perimeter? Why didn't the guard team stop him?" The scientist asked angry.

"Zale what happened to you? Are you okay?" He asked me.

"W-what are you doing here? You need to get away…" I told him.

"Kouta! Zale!" Another voice shouted.

That was Nyu! What was Nyu doing here? She wasn't supposed to be… that's exactly what they want. I watched as she fell over a bloodstain that had formed form the earlier battle.

"Lucy!" Shirakawa shouted.

At that, all the soldiers pointed their weapon at the newcomer.

"Come on Zale, we need to get out of here!" Kouta shouted as he put my arm around his shoulders and lifted me up. He then tried his best to run away. "Come on Nyu, we need to go!"

Before we could reach her though, Shirakawa grabbed a hold of Kouta and prevented him from going any further.

"Stay away from her, that girl will kill you!" She shouted to my friend.

"What are you saying? You're crazy, let me go!" Kouta was frantic, seeing what had happened to me must have scared him a lot.

"L-let him…" Pathetic, I couldn't even pronounce a sentence.

The woman took a good look at Nyu and noticed that she wasn't being aggressive, leaving her very confused. Kouta used this chance to knock free from her hold, grab me and run.

"Come on Nyu, we got to run!" He shouted and succeeded in making the girl follow him.

"Don't get Lucy get away." I could still hear Isobe say.

"Wait, don't shoot Lucy! She is no the target…" Shirakawa tried to say.

"Shoot her!" That was the commander's order.

At those words I mustered all the little strength I had left to push Kouta off of me and stand arms wide in front of both of him and Nyu. I couldn't let anyone else get hurt.

"Get down both of you!" I shouted.

"Zale!" Kouta shouted.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the final act of my pathetic life. At least, I will do one thing right before the end.

However, death failed to claim me even this time. I slowly reopened my eyes to see the bullets hovering in front of me, followed by an all too familiar feeling. I collapsed on my knees once more as I looked at a very confused Kouta.

"What just happened?" He asked before turning to face the girl he thought was still Nyu.

She was facing the floor; her hair covered her eyes masking her expression.

"Nyu, w-what's the matter?" He asked.

"K-Kouta… She is…" I tried to explain, but I was far too weak.

"Listen to me." Shirakawa said as she started walking towards us. "That girl is not who you think she is. She is… Lucy is…"

Just then, her torso was ripped off from her legs. A fountain of blood flowed to the ground as a bewildered Kouta watched. Soon after, the boy held his head and started screaming. It looked like something was trying to push its way out of his mind. Lucy walked past him and momentarily stopped beside me.

"Humph look at you," She said. "Crawling in the dirt and covered in blood. Quite pathetic for someone that likes playing hero all the time."

"Shut the hell up… and just do… what you have to do." I said through gritted teeth.

"Here we go." Lucy then said as she walked towards the troops.

After that, I let myself fall to the ground as everything turned black. The last thing I witnessed before losing consciousness was the sound of guns going off and the sight of a terrified Kouta. Poor Lucy, she'll have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#

I slowly opened my eyes again. I noticed I was being carried. My eyes looked at my side to see that I had my arm around Kouta's shoulders again. Taking a closer look to our surrounding, I noticed it was now night time. Had I been out that long? What had happened?

"K-Kouta…?" My forces were slowly coming back to me, but I was still a little numb.

"Zale, you're finally awake…" He said with a weak smile.

"W-what happened?"

"We got away... Nyu turned out to be someone… something else from my past." He said with sad eyes. "But I'm sure you already knew that."

I gave him a surprised look in return.

"She told me…" Kouta said.

"Wow, I'm surprised she even mentioned me." I said honestly as I let go of Kouta and started walking by myself. Well I was actually limping more than walking.

"Yes, she did say you are a stubborn, pathetic, and cheesy loser." That made me cringe inside, so typical of her.

I was about to make a joke when I saw his face. It was void of all emotions. Coming from a guy like him, it was almost scary.

"Kouta, what did happen between you two." I inquired.

A few long moments of silenced followed by a sigh were what came next.

"My sister did not die from a disease. She was killed, brutally.'

I closed my eyes when I heard that. It didn't surprise me. It actually was my first guess.

"We used to be friends when we were younger you know." He continued. "I guess it happened because of that night at the festival."

That word brought painful memories back to me as well.

"Guess we've got something in common there…" I interjected but he paid no mind to it.

"If only I had told her about me going with Yuka… had I told her that my cousin was a girl… had I not lied… this wouldn't have happened." He said through gritted teeth.

I nodded at what he said, remembering how painful my own accident at the festival was. When Kaede was upset at that boy saying that his cousin was…

Wait a second.

Lying? His cousin was not a guy but a girl? A festival? This was getting a little too coincidental.

I frowned. "Kouta… when did you say all this happened?"

"Ugh, I don't know I was a kid. Maybe around seven years ago?" He said tentatively.

The date coincided too. Could it be true? No it had to be bullshit.

"Wait, she killed your family? Did that happen at the Kamakura station?" I asked quickly.

"Y-yeah it did…" He said still filled with grief. "I met her in the woods; she was alone and looked angry at the world. We spent so much time together after that… like that time at the zoo. We were really good friends."

My eyes were wider than they had ever been. It all connected, it all made sense.

Yuka was the girl that I saw crying at the festival.

Kanae was the last person I saw before passing out that night.

Kouta was raven haired kid.

And Lucy was…

"No way…." I muttered. "It's her…"

I could still feel her presence. She was nearby and she was with Mariko. What if she was in danger? I had to go. I had to find her. I rushed towards the direction they were fighting when Kouta called for me.

"Wait, where are you going?" He shouted.

"I-it's her…." I said with a mixture of excitement and disbelief. "She's my sister! I have to find her! I'll be back don't worry!"

With that said, I sprinted away. All of my forces had finally found me once again. There was no stopping me. How could I be so blind? Just now I saw the similarities between them and why her personality had turned so cold. Now she needed me and I was not going to lose her again. I was not going to lose her ever again.

I found her.

I found my sister.

I found Kaede.

**Dun dun dun! There you have it! The big moment! We are ever so close to the end of this thing! Oh the drama!**


	21. Family Sticks Together

**CHAPTER 21: FAMILY STICKS TOGETHER******

I ran as fast as I could Kaede could have been in danger for all that I knew. She was there with that monster child. She needed help. Not to mention I still had a score to settle with Mariko. All these thoughts gave me new found strength. There was no time to waste I had to act quickly. The two would be going at each other's throats any moment now.

I ran for a good distance, in other similar situations my legs would have been pleading me to stop. Instead, I was moving faster than ever before. To a bystander, I might have appeared as a simple gust of wind.

There they were! I could see Mariko had just punched her opponent against a railing with one of her vectors. Now more of her vibrating limbs were headed for the other girl. I needed to get there in time. I dashed in front of the victim and roared as loudly as possible. Mariko's vector seemed to retreat in both fear and surprise. I guess I must have looked pretty scary.

"Y-you!" Mariko called.

"Get the fuck back!" I told her fiercely.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Said a voice behind me, both pissed and annoyed. "Can't you ever stay put?"

"Funny, I should be asking you that." I replied without turning around. "Besides, it didn't really look like you were winning from afar you now?"

"I told you to mind your own business and stay away!" She growled. "Do you want me to risk killing you as well? Just get away already!"

It was funny how I had just realized that she did not want to hurt me.

"Idiot!" I yelled, surprising her. "You are such an idiot. Honestly I thought at some point of your life you'd change, but you are still the same."

I could feel her scowling at me.

"What good was all this time to you? No matter how many times I tell you the same stuff you never listen. And you do know there's one thing I constantly repeated to you…"

My head spun around and showed that I was smiling and had watery eyes. She started looking surprised.

"…Family sticks together."

Hearing that, her eyes went wide and her mouth was agape. She stared at my face, trying to look for something. I knew it was similarities to the boy she remembered. From her face, I understood that she found quite a lot.

"Y-you… I-is it… Alex?" She stuttered.

"…Hi Kaede." I nodded

As I said that her stupor grew even more, her eyes watering as well. She slowly started to smile.

"Aw aren't you two cute?" Mariko mocked. "Pity you forgot about me. I hate being ignored!"

Her vectors were ready to attack again. My face turned serious once more as I stared at my opponent.

"There is so much I need to tell you. But right now we need to focus on her. Don't worry I'm just delaying the reunion." I said.

After a while I felt the cold killing intent that I was so used to back, and it wanted to end this fight.

"Then we have to end this quickly." Kaede said in a cold and emotionless tone.

I found Kaede, and now we were fighting together as equals against the only thing that stood between us and a happy ending. Mariko was going down, no discussion about that.

The two diclonii tackled each other's vectors. Kaede held off as many as she could, while headed for Mariko, hoping to land a hit. Sadly, she still had a couple of free vectors, which she used to along with her speed to block the attack. The little girl then tried to use those same limbs to grab a hold of me, but my sister blocked them quickly and gave time to put some space between me and the target.

Subsequently, we attempted a completely different approach. I jumped over her and tried to attack from above. The moment Mariko looked up, Kaede tried hitting her from the ground while she was distracted. The little girl however, easily blocked her vectors and grabbed before trying to smash me to the ground. Thank god my sister used one of her free 'arms' to cushion my fall.

A second later, the older diclonius was back into the fight and desperately trying to find a weak spot in Mariko's defense. As I raced through my mind, trying to find a solution, I thought of something.

"Kaede, move!" I shouted and she did so without question, giving me a clear shot for the little girl.

I channeled some of my energy into my palms, as I had unconsciously done previously. Two small spheres formed in the palms of both of my hands and I proceeded in firing them at the enemy. She raised a few arms in self-defense and, just like before, a cloud of dirt lifted up. However, as the smoke cleared, this time Mariko and all of her vectors were intact.

I growled and charged at her, claws at the ready. I watched the numerous vectors fly towards me and started evading them. I dodged one after the other until I was less than a meter away from Mariko. However, before I could scratch her, she landed a hit with her final vector and sent me flying. I hit the floor hard.

The fatigue from all the previous strains was starting to feel, as I struggled to get on my knees.

"Ha, is that really all? I told you mister, you're boring." She mocked.

That proved to be a final mistake, as Kaede used that distraction to send her flying off of her wheelchair. One of her arms appeared to fly off from the impact. She then walked towards the little girl menacingly.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to let you suffer much longer." Kaede said in her usual scary tone of voice.

That line however, caused the little girl to start laughing.

"Oh I see, you think you are gonna kill me right?" She asked amused. "You are definitely the queen and everything, but…"

At that moment I noticed that Mariko's missing limb was in fact prosthetic. She was faking.

"Kaede get away from her!" I warned.

"No one can kill me, nobody!" Mariko finished and sent her opponent flying against the railing was again.

This time I couldn't stop the group of 3 vectors that reached for her. I was far too weak to move.

"Kaede! Kaede! NO!" I shouted, but there was not much else to do.

I lied there as she was being beaten to death with those damn arms. At one point, the unthinkable happened. One of her horns fell off leaving a trail of blood flowing down her forehead. I panicked; I thought she was dead for a second. That was until I felt her presence; it was feeble and weak but definitely there.

I dragged myself to where Kaede was and checked on her.

"Kaede… Kaede can you hear me?"

My ears picked on footsteps behind me and I turned around to see Isobe grinning. I tried intimidating him with one of my glares, but in that state I probably wouldn't even scare a kitten.

"We did it! We finally captured Lucy! Not only that, but I got the only offspring of Project Cherubim as well. I can definitely write my own ticket from now on." He said.

"Stay back or I swear I'll disembowel you." I managed to scare him slightly, but it only lasted for a moment.

"So these are the two people everyone was so afraid of?" Mariko giggled to herself, fuelling my anger.

"Mariko!" A voice called.

I turned around to see the same man that I met in the cemetery.

"K-Kurama… is that you?" I asked, uncertain of whether his sudden appearance was good thing or not. The name did seem to attract Mariko's attention though.

What was more important to me though, was who was standing next to the man.

"Nana! You're alive!" I said, beaming with happiness.

"Zale, what are you doing here?" She yelled. The way she called me, made Kurama look at me for the briefest of moments.

"You two need to get out of here! It's dangerous!" I said as I mustered all of my strength to stand up.

"Y-you're my daddy?" Mariko asked in disbelief.

Wait, what now? Mariko is Kurama's daughter? That, I did not see coming.

"Daddy, I've been hoping to meet you." Mariko said as she also did her best to stand up and walk towards the older man.

She quickly fell on her face however, causing both me and Kurama to feel the need to help her up. Wait, why was I feeling the urge to help that little monster? She almost killed Nana and severely injured Kaede. The last thing I should feel for her is pity.

"Oh daddy…" The little thing said as she sat back up.

In response, the man's eyes watered as he pulled a gun out of his pocket. That made me do a double-take.

It also caused the surprised girl to start crying. "All this time that I was locked away in that dark room, I was looking forward to the day we meet. You'd say 'come home' and there you'd be with mommy so that we could be a real family. You and mommy would tell me 'Mariko we love you so much' and now we meet just like in my dreams. How could you do this to me? You were supposed to take care of me!"

After that she started crying. What was wrong with me? What the fuck was wrong with me? I had been so angry, so furious, so frustrated, that I forgot one of the things I always believed in. All diclonii are humans, they are nothing more and nothing less. I had had the guts to call Mariko a monster. How could I? How could I after all these years of preaching about equality? It left me truly disappointed in myself.

"It's my fault. I killed so many children, that I kept you alive just because you were my own. It was my sin from the beginning but you'll have to pay."

"This is dangerous." Nana interjected. "Papa, we should get out of here."

That visibly upset Mariko. "Papa? But why? Why is she allowed to call you 'Papa'? She isn't your daughter! How could you?" She then sent one of her vectors to knock the other girl against the iron railing.

"Nana!" Both me and Kurama shouted at the same moment.

Mariko proceeded in hitting Nana repeatedly with two more vectors. Her father had the most unthinkable of reactions. He dropped the gun and hugged his daughter. He then told her that he had been thinking about her every day since she was born. Kurama was a good man, I was positive now.

"From now on, we will always be together." He told her as he picked her up. "Go ahead, do it!" He then told Isobe.

"B-but chief… don't tell me you've been planning this all along?"

"I've worked with the director for many years now. I know the kind of measures he takes." He replied before walking away.

He stopped in his tracks to look at Nana.

"Nana, promise me you'll do whatever it takes to be happy." He told her.

"Papa…" Was the diclonius' weak reply.

Kurama then turned to me.

"So you've taken your father's identity have you?" He asked.

"Yes, it felt suitable to start over, to erase the mistakes I did as Alex." I said staring right into his eyes.

"…I met your father in my youth. He was always there for me and my family. Zale always fought for his idea of humanity, in that you two are very similar. He was my best friend, you should be proud of being his son." He told me with a light smile.

This revelation made my eyebrows rise slightly. "I am. I have always been proud."

That caused the man to smile.

"Zale wanted me to tell you something if I ever met you. He wanted you to know that he never left you, that he was and always will be by your side. Not even death can break the amount of love he felt for you. As he often told me… no matter what happens, no matter where you are, no matter what you do…"

"…Family sticks together." I concluded for him with teary eyes. "You are a good person Kurama, of that I am sure."

"Hey Mariko… be a good girl for me will you?" I told the little diclonius.

She seemed a little surprised at my approach at first, but quickly started smiling. "Thank you mister, I will!"

"Humph, you are so much like him." Her father muttered.

With that, they left the building walking away at a slow pace.

After a while, I could feel Mariko's presence reach a nearby bridge.

"If I disobey his orders, I am sure to be killed. Please, don't think badly of me." Isobe said as he pressed a button on a cellphone.

I knew the girl had bombs inside of her. There was no other way to keep control of such a powerful being. Well, all that there was left to do now was listen.

A loud boom filled the area and Mariko's presence disappeared. I closed my eyes in tribute of two poor souls and listened to Nana's sad whimpering. I tried my best not to cry, as I needed to be strong now. My sister still needed me.

I heard a gun being loaded and I turned around. Isobe had a handgun and was shifting its aim between me and Nana.

"You two are the only ones left; think of the reward when…"

Before he could finish his sentence, his head was cut clean off.

I turned around to look at Kaede walking towards us.

"Nana, head towards Maple House. I'll be right back." I told her.

She seemed uncertain for a moment.

"Go, I'll be fine." With that said, she walked away although with some uncertainty.

I looked at Kaede's sad face. "Only one thing left to do now…"

&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#

I had been waiting at the bottom of that staircase for quite a while now. My sister was having her talk with Kouta. She needed to do this, ever since the beginning. It didn't worry me one bit, their hearts weren't hard to read. Their feelings would mend a seven year-old wound very easily. I had recuperated much of my strength and was now able to stand properly. I waited there with my arms and legs crossed for a while longer before I heard footsteps.

"How did it go?" I asked as I looked at her.

"He forgave me and I was able to say goodbye." She said with grief.

"Still the pessimist are you, I can promise you that by tomorrow morning you will be having breakfast with him." I said with a grin.

Kaede looked at my face; her eyes were shimmering in the moonlight.

"I… I thought you were dead…" She told me.

"I know… I know and I'm sorry I didn't come any sooner." I said as I kept my head low. "Had I been able to find you earlier, I could have been there for you. I-I could have made it better if only…"

She hugged me tightly before I could finish my sentence. I had a momentary flashback of that time in the woods, many years ago when she hugged me. We had just become siblings then.

"All I care about…" She said through sobs. "…Is that you are here now."

I hugged her back and enjoyed the moment.

"Alex… Nii-san… I missed you… I missed you so much…" She said as she buried her face in my shoulder.

"I missed you too Kaede… I missed you too…" Before I knew it I started crying myself.

Moments later, we were walking, talking about old times.

"I still think your face when you went to the zoo was the cutest ever." I said with my arms behind my head.

"I was a little girl… I was amused easily. I also remember your face when you put up with Tomo and the others. You looked so annoying it was funny." She said.

"Hey those guys were annoying, you can't deny that!" I said in defense.

"And at least I was a little energetic. I mean remember our game of tag? You were out of breath in five minutes? Remember?" She asked.

"Hahaha how could I forget? That was the first time we played together!"

We came to a bridge filled with soldiers; all of them were aiming at us. Isobe had called reinforcements, so it was our duty to clean up.

"You up for one last game then?" I asked with a sick grin.

"You have no idea…" She said donning her usual emotionless and cold expression.

We were about to test the ultimate combination against these poor souls. Blood was going to flow, lots of it.

&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#

It had been around half an hour of bloody fighting, it had felt like forever. However, there we were, standing in the middle of a huge group of corpses. We had lived through it. Probably neither of us thought we would.

"W-what did I tell you… about positive thinking?" I said, too tired to walk properly once more.

"Do you want to… head back?" Kaede asked smiling at me, but just as tired as I was.

"Need you ask? Let's go live as a family… after such a long time."

She turned around and started walking slowly and I was about to follow her. Before I could however, I saw something shine in the distance. It was a wounded soldier on the ground, pointing his gun at my sister. He was alive and about to shoot! I won't reach him, what can I…

"Kaede!" I shouted and before I could come up with a proper solution I ran and pushed her away from the trajectory.

Pain.

All too familiar pain.

Just like when Yu Kakuzawa shot me two years prior.

I fell to the ground, bleeding. Kaede quickly proceeded in beheading the soldier before coming to my assistance.

"Alex! Alex, are you alright?"

I tried to speak, but found it impossible. Kaede was growing frantic.

"Say something! Nii-san, please!" She shouted.

"Hahaha" I laughed weakly. "Looks like I was right… You will be going back to Kouta… At least I kept one of my promises…"

"We are both going back! We are both going back and we are gonna live a happy life together with everyone!"

"Sure, with a gaping hole in my chest… you are having quite the overdose of positive thinking aren't you?" How could sarcasm dig its way through a moment like this?

Well this is pretty much when you guys came in and I started telling you my story like some cheesy idiot. But you do have to agree… it was pretty crazy right? But Kaede was alright… that was all that mattered. My life centered on her being fine and I had no regrets, well maybe I would have preferred killing Kakuzawa but whatever.

I really liked relieving my memories with you people… it made this moment much more meaningful to me.

Now though, I would like to ask you for a moment of privacy… I wanna spend my last breaths with my sister… so yeah I guess you'll just have to see what happens.

Alex looked at his sister to see that she was crying.

"Hey… it's okay, I'm happy. I was able to keep you safe. I wasn't a total failure as a brother…"

"You…you are not a-a failure… you are the best brother ever…Y-you were the first person to talk to me… so…" She then broke down into tears.

"Shhh… Kaede listen to me…" He told her getting her attention back.

"S-stay close to Kouta… He's a nice guy… one of my best friends ever. Tell Yuka… that I would have loved to taste her cooking again. Take care… of Mayu and Nana… they are just little girls… they need someone to look over them. Oh and don't forget about Wanta… the little guy really is something… keep him company. Can you do those things for me?"

She nodded her consensus. "Y-you can do it yourself when we get back…"

Kaede failed to smile and only succeeded in sobbing even more.

Alex looked to his side to his two figures shine in a faint light. One he recognized, she had visited him once before in similar situation. It was Asuka, his mother and she was smiling at him. The other one was male, in his mid-twenties. He had jet-black hair and sapphire blue eyes. He gave the younger boy a wink and a proud smirk.

Alex laughed at the sight of the young man. Now he knew… he knew what the real Zale looked like. He had to admit they were pretty much identical besides the hair color.

"Kaede… one last thing…"

"Yes Alex...?"

"Family…"

That word made her smile tragically.

"Sticks together…"

He smiled at her response and looked up at the sky. Just then, a train of memories passed in front of his eyes. Alex's life was playing, just like a movie, in his mind.

He saw everything.

Arriving at the orphanage.

Meeting and defending Kaede from Tomo and the other bullies.

Them hugging and pronouncing each other brother and sister.

Running away and finding Kouta in the woods after Kaede found out about her vectors.

The incident at the festival.

The death of Aiko and the loss of Kaede.

Meeting his mother.

Mastering his powers.

Coming back to Kamakura and encountering Nana, along with the day they spent at the beach.

Unconsciously meeting his sister at the cemetery and the rest of the Maple House gang.

His constant search for Kaede.

Seeing Nana become part of the family.

Fighting with Mariko and reuniting with his sister.

Kurama's death along with his father's parting words.

And his final hug with Kaede.

After he saw all of those things, his eyes closed. As soon as his sister noticed she screamed in pain and grief. To her, he had just come back from the land of the dead, only to die in her arms. It was cruel to the young diclonius. She looked at her brother's face, seemingly peaceful and at rest after so much fatigue and pain. Kaede held him in her arms and spent the rest of the night crying.

So dies Alex, Son of Zale.

The offspring of an experiment gone wrong.

A killer to the eyes of many individuals.

A devil born with the burden to overthrow a self-proclaimed god.

But most of all, a boy who gave his life to save his sister.

**And that is the end of it! It's been a wonderful two years writing this story and I gotta say that I would have definitely stopped if it wasn't for you guys! Thank you from both me and Alex!**

**3 3 3**


	22. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

She was standing in front of the sea, staring at the vast amount of water. It hit her that it was one of the few places that she never visited with her brother.

"Kaede!" A voice called for her.

For a second, she thought she would see a certain sarcastic boy, but was greeted instead by the sight of the raven haired young man she loved.

"Me, Yuka, and the others are ready to leave…" Kouta told her.

"I-I'll be there Kouta…" She said shaking.

He put an arm around her waist. "Take as much time as you need." He told her before leaving.

She stood there for one more minute or so, before she decided to start leaving. The constant thoughts of what it could have been were bringing tears back to her eyes.

In the distance, a figure with long auburn hair had its sapphire eyes on her. As it looked at her retreating form, a grin formed on his face and it laughed lightly.

Hearing an all too familiar sound, Kaede spun around quickly. However, she only saw sand.

She gazed at the sand for a short while before smiling to herself. She resumed walking away, but this time she did so with confidence.

"I know, I know. No need to repeat it again…' She laughed to herself as this time she looked up at the sky.

"…Family stick together".


	23. The End Game Begins

**THE END GAME BEGINS**

**An end can mean many things.**

_A lone helicopter soars through the skies nearing an island. On the island a single huge facility is visible._

"Have you found her?" A grey-haired man looking outside a window asked.

"We are close director, soon her whereabouts will be known to us." A scientist replied.

"Good, good, and…. How's the other process going." Kakuzawa inquired.

"It is completed sir. He should be here soon."

**To many it is a painful memory of the past.**

_Somewhere in the city of Kamakura, a girl with pink hair stood in the wind looking at the horizon._

"Hay Kaede is everything all right?" Mayu asked the diclonius, briefly startling her.

"Yeah… it's just… I miss him." She answered with her eyes lowered.

"I know." Mayu hugged her friend. "We all do."

**The past, in turn, can hold both memories and… secrets.**

_Inside a laboratory, a diclonius stood there surrounded by guards. The defenseless humans were falling one by one. One of them had his back against the wall in terror. The girl kept on lacerating all the bodies around her, until her cold-hearted gaze was fixed on the poor man. She glared at him through her fringe of hair and let one of her vectors reach for him. However, a figure moved the man out of the way. The figure is a young male clad in black with jet-black hair, his eyes were a feral purple. He returned the cold stare at the girl as the two gazed at each other for a time._

"What are you doing? She isn't like the others, she's dangerous get away!" The man shouted at his savior.

"So am I." He glared at the diclonius. "You get out of here and make sure Kurama is alright. I can handle her."

After a few moments of hesitation he ran towards the exit. "You'd better not die…Zale." He murmured.

The black-haired man's nails elongated to claws as he nodded.

**This end is different however. It is time to connect it all…**

**Their past…**

"_What do you want to name him?"_

"_Why am I not allowed seeing them when they are inside the institute?"_

"_Queen, that's all they call me. I don't have a name."_

"_You, you lied to me! They are not monsters! It was all your doing!" _

"_When will this end?"_

"_Stay away from her!"_

"_Did you two fall from the sky or something?"_

Zale stared at the moon as his eyes turned from sapphire blue to deep purple.

**Their present…**

Kaede grabbed a nearby photo. In it was Alex, sprawled on the bed like an animal and in the obvious act of snoring. Yuka had taken that in secret. It made her smile for a short while before she covered her face and started sobbing.

…**and their future.**

_The helicopter landed on the facility. One young man with short spiky hair, wearing a military outfit came out of it. He saluted a group of soldiers._

"I'm Leon Zoroaster, from the U.S. Marines. I volunteered to help out with the diclonius problem."

**It is time to end this war.**

"_You are the one who connects us all. It's up to you now…"_

**ELFEN LIED: Dark Seraphim **

**Indeed people… coming soon… very soon… Yes I know, very Kingdom Hearts styled promo, but I personally think it works! Tell me what you think about it!**


End file.
